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HARVEY 


VCSB   LIBRARY 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE: 


Jfmtjj  aifo  B&ture 


BY 

PHILIP  HARVEY,  M.D. 


NEW   YORK: 

SAMUEL   R.   WELLS,   PUBLISHER, 

No.   3S9   BROADWAY. 

1808. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1808, 
BY  SAMUEL  R.  WELLS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  tho 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


EDWJLKD  O.  JEXKINB, 

PRINTER  A\D   STEREOTYPER, 
Ko.  90  North  William  St. 


There  is  a  manifest  progress  in  the  succession  of  beings  upon  the  sur 
face  of  the  earth.  This  progress  consists  in  an  increasing  similarity  to 
the  living  fauna,  and  among  the  vertebres  especially,  in  their  increasing 
resemblance  to  man. — "  Principles  of  Zoology." 

By  AGASSIZ  and  GOULD. 


General  views  lead  us  to  consider  each  organism  as  a  part  of  the  entire 
creation,  and  to  recognize  in  the  plant  or  the  animal,  not  only  an  isolated 
species,  but  a  form  linked  in  the  chain  of  being  to  other  forms,  cither  liv 
ing  or  extinct.— KCMBOLDT'S  Cosmos. 


Ko  one  can  tell  but  that  as  many  of  the  former  inhabitants  of  the  globe 
are  now  extinct — tribes  that  existed  before  the  human  race  was  created — so 
this  human  race  may  be,  like  them,  only  known  by  its  fossil  remains  ;  and 
other  tribes  be  found  on  other  continents,  as  far  excelling  ours  in  power 
and  wisdom,  as  we  excel  the  mastodon  and  megatherium  of  the  ancient 
world.— Remarks  on  Fossil  Osteoloyy,  etc. 

By  LORD  BROUGHAM. 

(5) 


FOOTPRINTS  OF   LIFE. 


\V$t—  THE  BODY. 


INTRODUCTION  —  THE   ORIGIN  —  PROGRESSIVE   DEVELOPMENT 
AND   EXD   OF   ANIMAL   LIFE. 

OF  Nature's  deepest  mysteries  profound, 
And  secrets  that  in  ancient  days  she  kept 
Behind  a  veil,  from  mortal  view  concealed, 
And  even  yet  reluctantly  allows 
The  searching  eye  of  science  to  explore  ; 
Of  life,  its  origin,  its  course  and  end, 
And  the  position  relative  we  hold 
To  other  things  of  life,  the  world  and  God, 
I  fain  would  sing  ;  the  rugged  theme  attune 
In  measured  cadence  to  the  Muses'  lyre, 
Though  uncongenial  to  the  maids  of  song 
Such  topics  metaphysical  and  deep, 
And  I  unused  to  court  their  tuneful  aid. 

As  from  afar  beheld,  a  mountain  pile, 
Sublime  and  vast,  uproars  its  awful  front, 


8  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

And  with  just  sense  of  his  own  littleness 
In  time  and  space,  the  haughtiest  man  rebukes  ; 
So  to  the  mind,  with  kindred  feelings  fraught, 
My  subject  looms  ;  its  base  deep  set  among 
The  buried  records  of  departed  worlds, 
The  gloomy  tombs  of  generations  past, 
And  relics  of  remotest  times  that  date 
Immeasurably  back,  beyond  the  days 
Of  man  and  all  his  puny,  mighty  works  ; 
Its  summit  equally  obscure,  enwrapt 
In  clouds  Cimmerian,  whose  uncertain  forms 
Almost  assume  the  shapes  that  fancy  bids, 
And  cheat  the  mind  with  endless  fantasies, 
As  baseless  as  the  fabric  of  a  dream. 
Although  the  foot  of  man  has  never  trod 
Nor  ever  can,  the  depths  and  heights  extreme 
Of  this  mysterious  mount,  remote  and  dim, 
He  can  its  caverns  and  its  cliffs  explore, 
Albeit  in  gloom  and  shadowy  mists  involved  ; 
Ponder  the  wonders  there  within  his  view 
And  judge  from  what  he  sees  what  lies  beyond. 

No  sophistry  in  flimsy  dress  arrayed, 
Nor  inspiration  from  Castalian  fount, 
Nor  aught  of  fiction  would  I  here  invoke  ; 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  9 

Sacred  the  theme  to  reason  and  to  truth. 

Of  soaring  wing,  and  well  inured  to  breathe 

The  ether  of  Parnassus,  others  may 

Imagination's  giddy  heights  ascend, 

And  pleasure  find  in  their  enchanting  scenes  ; 

Such  is  not  mine,  the  power  nor  the  need. 

Even  were  mine  the  gift  in  lofty  flights, 

On  wings  of  fancy  to  indulge,  mcthinks 

'Twould  better  suit  the  end  in  view  to  curb 

Such  airy  course,  and  keep  within  the  pale 

Of  the  stern  facts  of  earth,  lost  they  unseen, 

I  wander  lost  amid  the  clouds  of  doubt. 

No  fiery  Pegasus  would  I  bestride, 

To  bear  me  out  of  sight  of  common  sense  ; 

A  homely  muse  best  suits  a  homely  aim. 

Of  things  that  all  should  know  I  here  would  speak, 

So  plain  to  all  my  phrase  and  style  should  be. 

Whence  do  we  come,  and  what  our  destiny  ? 
These    questions    have    perplexed    the    thoughtful 

mind 

From  earliest  times  until  the  present  day  ; 
But  still  the  multitude  remain  involved 
In  darkness  palpable,  and  blindly  walk, 

The  dupes  of  superstition  and  of  those, 
1* 


10  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Who,  to  subserve  their  selfish  ends,  pretend 
To  be  the  special  oracles  of  God. 
False  prophets  they,  unworthy  of  belief ; 
The  Sovereign  of  the  Universe  reveals 
Himself  to  man  but  in  His  works  and  laws. 
Him  would  we  know  ?  then  let  us  study  these. 
If  rightly  viewed  they  will  not  fail  to  show 
His  splendor  in  that  mild  and  tempered  light 
That  human  senses  can  alone  endure, 
And  faculties  imperfect  comprehend. 
More  we  should  covet  not  nor  vainly  seek  ; 
Instructed  by  the  myth  of  Semele, 
The  Theban  damsel  fair  beloved  of  Jove  ; 
She,  not  content  the  god  should  wisely  veil 
His  dazzling  splendor  from  her  feeble  eyes, 
Demanded  to  behold  him  as  enrobed 
In  all  the  majesty  and  pomp  of  heaven, 
His  lightnings  and  his  thunders  round  him  wrap 
ped. 

The  wish  was  granted  ;  but  too  late  she  learned 
That  mortal  sense  could  not  endure  the  glare  ; 
She  looked — and  perished  in  the  light  divine. 

Whence  do  we  come,  and  what  our  destiny  ? 
What  life,  and  what  is  death  ?  these  let  me  seek. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  11 

And  Thou,  of  both  the  Author,  by  whose  aid 
Alone  our  faculties  perceive  and  think, 
Assist  me  now  to  comprehend  Thy  works ! 
Thy  holy  pages — Nature's  open  book— 
The  only  one  that  is  in  truth  divine, 
And  that  alone  in  which  no  errors  arc, 
G  ive  me  to  understand  and  read  aright ! 
Then  shall  the  misty  veil  arise,  which  else 
Obscures  the  soul  and  shadows  it  in  night. 

How  vast  and  infinite  arc  Nature's  works  ! 
The  finite  powers  of  man  arc  all  too  weak 
To  reckon  up  the  many  forms  of  life 
Called  to  existence  by  her  magic  laws, 
From  the  mixed  chaos  of  the  elements, 
As  tenants  of  her  widely  spread  domains  ; 
As  easy  were  it  to  sum  up  the  stars. 
Her  products  ever  vary  as  the  times 
And  circumstances  change  that  foster  them. 
Light,  heat,  efficients  primary  of  life, 
Freer  than  air,  fly  swift  from  sphere  to  sphere, 
Unclogged  by  weight  that  fetters  grosser  things, 
And  limits  them  to  orbs  of  which  they  form 
Component  parts  ;  and  as  those  agencies 
More  subtile  vary,  so  the  beings  change, 


12  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

That  by  their  aid  are  ushered  into  life. 

The  grosser  elements  that  Tellus  claims 

Dominion  over,  and  that  constitute 

The  forms  substantial  of  all  earthly  things, 

In  ever  varying  circuits  too  revolve 

In  complicated  maze  inscrutable  ; 

And  while  they  run  their  never  ceasing  rounds, 

As  whirlpools  in  the  shoreless  stream  of  time, 

The  combinations  that  they  pass  into, 

And  shapes  of  life  their  atoms  aid  to  build — 

Are  countless  as  the  atoms  are  themselves  ; 

And  every  organ  in  its  part  performed, 

And  every  faculty  by  exercise, 

Development  anew  and  growth  promote. 

Thus  all  to  novelty  and  change  conspires  : 

And  thus  the  universal  mother  kind 

Her  progeny,  with  hand  obsequious,  moulds, 

To  suit  the  stations  they  are  meant  to  fill. 

Amidst  this  ceaseless  mutability, 

The  laws  that  govern  all  eternal  are 

As  He  who  issues  them,  and  who  indeed, 

Their  Essence  and  their  Cause,  alone  through  them 

By  mortals  can  be  rightly  understood. 

Concord  and  universal  harmony, 

Although  not  evident  to  finite  sense, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  13 

Result  infallibly  from  His  decrees  ; 
And  in  proportion  as  we  comprehend 
His  laws  sublime,  can  we  with  certainty 
Foretell  His  works  ere  yet  they  see  the  light. 
Would  we  be  prophets  ?  let  us  read  His  laws  ; 
In  these  interpreted  lies  prophecy. 

Far  in  the  realms  of  space,  above,  around, 
We  see  the  empyrean  thickly  strewed 
With  shining  stars,  the  suns  of  other  worlds, 
Perhaps  like  that  which  this  our  earth  illumes, 
They  mostly  are  ;  sources  of  light  and  heat 
To  secondary  and  attendant  orbs, 
Invisible  to  us  and  numberless 
As  grains  of  sand  upon  the  ocean  shore  ; 
And  some,  rayless  themselves,  would  darkling  tread 
Their  ceaseless  rounds,  but  for  the  borrowed  light 
They  from  their  parent  primary  obtain! 
Our  sister  planets  these,  dependent  on 
That  sun  in  whose  prolific  rays  we  bask. 
So,  in  the  microcosms  of  mankind, 
Some  nobly  dare  to  use  the  right  of  thought, 
And  cast  their  light  abroad  ;  while  others  take 
Their  light  at  second-hand,  and  venture  not 
Upon  the  task  of  thinking  for  themselves. 


14  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

How  glorious  to  be  suns  among  mankind 

And  spread  illuminating  rays  around, 

To  animate  the  dull  and  soulless  clods 

That  dare  not,  or  have  not  the  power  to  shine ! 

To  shed  light  far  into  the  realms  of  time, 

As  stars  do  into  space,  where  it  shall  "burn 

For  ages  after  its  first  source  is  dead ! 

Who  would  content  remain  a  satellite, 

Another's  radiance  only  to  reflect, 

And  be  his  lowly  servitor  in  thought, 

Afraid  to  call  his  very  soul  his  own, 

"While  the  broad  surface  of  the  land  wherein 

We  live,  with  all  its  fertile  hills  and  vales, 

Its  forests  wide,  grand  streams  and  waterfalls, 

Its  mountains  vast,  its  boundless  plains  and  all 

The  prodigality  of  nature's  gifts 

With  which  beyond  compare  it  overruns, 

Are  doubly  Sanctified  to  liberty  ; 

First  by  the  hand  of  God,  who  makes  all  free, 

Then  by  the  blood  and  toil  of  godlike  men, 

Who  weeded  out  the  growth  of  tyranny 

That  tyrants  and  oppressors  planted  here, 

And,  in  the  days  of  revolution,  pledged 

Their  honor,  lives  and  fortunes,  to  hand  down 

The  institutions  that  we  now  enjoy. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  15 

A  rich  inheritance  ;  and  all  its  heirs 

Should  show  themselves  deserving  of  the  boon  ; 

Nor  is  it  found  they  arc  degenerate  yet  ; 

For  latter  days  have  seen  that  Freedom's  fire 

Still  brightly  burns  upon  Columbia's  soil, 

And  "Washington's  is  matched  with  Lincoln's  name. 

Here  ever  may  the  beacon-light  shine  forth, 

A  signal  and  example  to  the  world. 

Ye  sons  of  Freedom  every  fetter  break  ! 

The  shackles  that  enthrall  the  mind  cast  off, 

And  show  yourselves  to  be  as  free  in  thought — 

As,  as  in  the  times  that  tried  the  souls  of  men, 

Your  sires  of  fame  immortal  claimed  to  be 

In  deed  ;  nor  claimed  alone,  but  in  their  might 

And  majesty  arose  and  made  it  good. 

Ye  have  a  revolution  to  achieve, 

To  give  emancipation  to  the  soul, 

As  they  had  to  throw  off  a  foreign  yoke. 

Be  not  content  to  live  half  thralls  ;  complete 

The  glorious  work  ;  disown  the  phantom  sway 

Of  Superstition,  gloomy  king  of  shades, 

Whose  every  boasted  influence  benign 

Is  only  a  delusion  and  a  snare  ! 

To  science  and  to  nature's  lights  opposed, 

A  stupid  despot  he,  whose  leaden  yoke 

Is  more  oppressive  than  a  tyrant's  chains. 


16  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Ye  shining  orbs  remote,  that  burn  like  lamps 
Around  the  everlasting  throne  of  God  ! 
Are  ye  inhabited  by  living  things 
That  swell  the  anthem  of  eternal  praise, 
Whose  harmony  peals  through  creation  vast  ? 
Concern  ye  aught  the  destinies  of  man  ? 
Or  can  ye  satisfy  in  any  way 
The  hungry,  aching  void  within  the  breast, 
That  craves  the  tidings  of  eternity 
And  other  worlds  and  other  states  of  life, 
And  which  the  things  of  time  cannot  appease  ? 
We  listen,  but  across  the  boundless  waste 
No  answer  comes  to  greet  the  anxious  ear. 
The  visions  raised  by  Fancy's  potent  wand, 
That  throng  the  haunted  chambers  of  the  brain 
With  spirits  of  the  stars,  are  baseless  all. 
Your  home  divinities,  if  such  ye  have, 
Not  to  us  distant  sons  of  earth  reveal 
The  penetralia  of  their  bright  abodes  : 
Apart  in  silent  mystery  ye  shine. 

To  us  they  are  as  books  illegible. 
In  vain  with  magic  lens  we  try  to  read 
The  secret  lore  and  wondrous  histories 
That  we  feel  sure  they  hold  locked  up  within. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  17 

E'en  while  we  gaze  at  them  with  sight  increased 

A  thousand-fold  in  force,  to  penetrate 

The  gloomy  realms  of  darkness  and  of  space, 

And  glean  the  scattered  rays  that  there  afar, 

Lie  buried  in  the  fathomless  abyss — 

Too  deep  for  unassisted  eye  to  reach, 

They  glimmer  and  draw  back,  and  seem  to  wink, 

As  if  to  mock  man's  curiosity, 

And  bid  him  look,  poor  purblind  mole  of  earth, 

To  his  concerns  at  home,  nor  vex  his  soul 

About  what  appertains  to  them  alone. 

Doubtless,  those  orbs  remote  are  the  abodes 

Of  life  and  being  like  this  nether  earth  ; 

But  far  beyond  our  range,  our  feeble  powers 

Can  only  speculate  on  what  they  arc. 

The  home  and  dwelling-place  of  man  is  here. 
Let  us  behold  him  as  he  really  is. 
Considered  as  a  living  entity, 
A  mortal,  finite  and  created  being  ; 
And  not  as  he  would  vainly  wish  to  be, 
A  little  god  endowed  with  faculties 
As  boundless  as  the  universe  itself. 

In  seeking  out  the  source  and  destiny 


18  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Of  the  material,  earth-created  part, 

Unbiased  reason  calls  attention  first 

To  where  we  see  its  origin  and  end. 

Creatures  of  earth,  materially,  are  all ; 

The  elements  organic,  out  of  which 

Our  frames  are  formed,  are  gathered  from  its  stores, 

The  common  stock  of  its  inhabitants. 

These  elements,  forever  on  the  wing, 

We  scarce,  one  moment's  space,  can  call  our  own  ; 

We  hold  them  but  in  trust  for  nature's  use  ; 

And  soon  they  must  be  yielded  up  again, 

To  build  up  other  forms  of  life  ;  for  thus 

Nature  eternally  renews  her  works. 

In  life  as  well  as  death,  we  decompose, 

And  waste  away  ;  but  are  in  life  restored 

With  equal  pace  by  constant  nutriment ; 

Here  is  the  difference  'twixt  life  and  death. 

The  nice  adjustment  of  supply  and  waste, 

Neither  oppressing  nature  by  excess, 

Nor  pinching  her  with  parsimonious  stint, 

Hygeia  ever  to  our  side  invokes. 

Thrice  happy  they  who  heed  her  temperate  laws  ; 

Health  and  content  are  theirs  and  every  joy  ; 

But  they  who  heed  them  not  shall  feel,  like  him 

Who  expiated  on  the  frozen  height 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  19 

Of  Caucasus  Ins  crime  by  sufferings  dire, 
The  fierce  and  hungry  vulture  of  disease 
Remorselessly  upon  their  vitals  prey, 
Till  death  to  them  becomes  the  greatest  boon. 


As  rivers  that  in  devious  paths  pursue 
Their  onward  course  to  the  insatiate  deep, 
Ostensibly  remain  the  same,  but  still 
Are  ever  ebbing,  ever  rcsupplied, 
So  the  corporeal  forms  of  living  things, 
At  once  identical  and  different, 
Pass  ever-changing  through  the  scenes  of  life — 
Birth,  tender  infancy,  ripe  age,  decline. 
Death  is  the  sea  that  all  at  length  ingulfs, 
Though  cannot  in  Lethean  bonds  retain 
The  fickle  elements,  but  yields  them  back 
To  feed  again  the  ever  flowing  streams. 
Thus,  by  untiring  nature,  everything, 
Inanimate  or  animate,  is  urged, 
In  ceaseless  rounds,  its  varied  parts  to  play  ; 
"While  sleepless  Providence  o'er  all  presides. 

Through  ages  inconceivably  remote, 
Life's  ever-varying  forms  have  come  and  gone, 


20  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Ephemeral  as  insects  of  a  day, 

And  left  behind,  to  tell  that  they  have  been, 

Their  impress  stamped  upon  the  stony  scrolls 

That  round  about  enwrap  this  ball  of  earth, 

To  us  an  endless  book  ;  although  among 

The  least  of  all  the  ponderous  tomes  that  shine, 

Incased  in  golden  light  and  self-sustained 

In  God's  great  library,  the  dome  of  heaven. 

In  this  one  volume  that  alone  unfolds 

Its  leaves  of  stone  to  man,  thus  are  impressed, 

In  picture-writing,  to  be  read  by  all, 

Of  every  nation  and  of  every  age, 

The  strange  mutations  its  inhabitants 

From  the  first  dawn  of  life  have  undergone. 

Though  much  is  doubtless  blotted  out  by  time, 

The  wear  of  elemental  strife  without, 

And  throes  internal  of  Plutonic  fires, 

Through  countless  ages  ceaselessly  at  work, 

Much  more  we  may  presume  than  is  preserved — 

Yet,  still  enough  remains  to  tell  the  tale  ; 

A  broken  history,  'tis  true,  with  gaps 

That  reason  and  analogy  must  fill. 

Sibylline  books  are  these,  like  those  of  old 

The  Roman  prophetess  to  Tarquin  gave  ; 

To  those  who  can  interpret  them  aright, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  21 

They  tell  the  past  and  future  of  the  world. 

'Tis  written  on  these  pages  that  compose 

Earth's  solid  crust,  that  at  the  first  all  life 

Dwelt  in  the  bosom  of  the  ambient  sea, 

Warmed  into  being  by  the  vital  force 

That  brooded  o'er  the  surface  of  the  deep. 

Though  few  and  simple  were  these  early  forms, 

The  pristine  elements  they  yet  contained 

Of  all  the  beings  time  has  since  brought  forth  ; 

And  perfect  in  themselves,  they  yet  appear 

As  mere  abortions  of  the  things  to  come. 

The  great  Originator  thus,  we  sec, 

His  plans  from  the  beginning  had  arranged 

And  formed  the  archetypes  of  all  His  works. 

This  sacred  record  furthermore  reveals, 

In  shadowy  outline,  how  Creative  Power, 

Of  time  regardless,  dating  not  by  years, 

His  days  composed  of  time  indefinite, 

Employed  His  plastic  forces  ;  leading  on 

By  easy  grades  the  growing  forms  of  life 

Through  ages  past  the  power  of  man  to  count — 

Each  era  marked  by  new  development 

In  part  or  structure,  in  accordance  with 

Creation's  harmony,  until  at  length 

The  chord  symphonious  seems  complete  in  man  ; 


22  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Who  thus  appears  the  "  diapason  full"* 

Of  nature's  psalm  of  life,  chanted  on  earth 

In  swelling  chorus  through  the  ages  past  ; 

Though  doubtless  still  the  strain  may  be  prolonged 

In  loftier  concords  than  have  yet  been  known. 

So  it  is  said  the  walls  of  early  Thebes 

Uprose  responsive  to  Amphion's  lyre, 

Whose  notes  harmonious  had  such  wondrous  power, 

That  e'en  the  stones  obedient  to  them  moved. 

Survey  we  now  the  upward  path  of  life 
As  marked  upon  the  Records  of  the  earth. 
Though  rough  the  road  and  all  unfitted  for 
Thy  dainty  silken  shoon,  fair  Poesy ! 
I  fain  would  have  thy  company  to  cheer, 
With  winsome  voice  and  smiles,  the  weary  way. 
Then  come,  the  unaccustomed  task  begin  ! 
These  records  say,  as  they  come  down  to  us, 
That  first  apprentice  Nature  had  not  learned, 
The  art  of  building  up  that  complex  frame 
Of  bones  and  joints  we  call  a  skeleton. 
The  products  of  her  tyro  handicraft 
Were  probably  at  first  infusories  ; 
Then  coral  polypi  and  zoophytes, 
Or  animals  analogous  to  plants. 
*  Dryden 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  23 

Molluscous  and  crustacean  forms  of  life, 

A  multifarious  host,  were  then  brought  forth  ; 

These  cased  in  plated  mail  articular, 

Testaceous  mostly  those,  of  which  the  shells 

So  frequent  yet  remain,  that  they  to  rock 

In  strata  broad  converted,  and  upheaved 

By  the  rebellious  giants  •who,  of  old, 

Invaded  heaven — as  the  poets  feign — 

Now  form  vast  limestone  cliffs  and  mountains  high, 

"Whose  bold  escarpments  frown  o'er  sea  and  land, 

And  vest  in  grandeur  wild  the  rugged  scene. 

These  hasty  firstlings  of  our  mother  Earth, 

Mark  what  is  called  the  "  protozoic  age  " 

Of  her  productions  ;  after  this  we  see 

A  bony  frame,  internal,  came  in  vogue, 

And  fishes  then  were  her  most  favored  tribes . 

Their  earliest  forms,  it  seems,  in  skeleton 

Were  cartilaginous  ;  and  eased  without 

In  shelly  plates,  like  the  crustacean  tribes, 

To  which  'tis  probable  they  were  allied  ; 

But  soon  the  osseous  frame  more  perfect  grew, 

To  motion  adding  freedom,  grace  and  strength. 

The  next  advance  was  to  the  reptile  class  : 

The  forms  that  first  on  land  inhaled  the  air 

By  means  of  lungs.    Of  these,  some  sought  their  food 


24  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Amid  the  world  of  waters,  some  sought  theirs 
Upon  the  marshy  surface  of  the  shores, 
Yet  moist  and  newly  risen  from  the  sea, 
And  some  again  on  leathern  wings  in  air. 
Enormous  lizard-fishes,  swiftly  urged 
By  giant  oars,  their  finny  prey  pursued 
In  farthest  depths  of  ocean's  blue  domain  ; 
Fierce,  hungry  monsters  of  capacious  maw 
And  hideous  aspect,  tyrants  of  the  deep  ; 
The  predecessors  of  true  reptiles  these. 
Then  saurian  tribes  for  land  or  water  made — 
Two  natures  linked  amphibiously  in  one — 
"Wherein,  in  form  and  attribute,  the  fish, 
The  quadruped  and  bird  were  strangely  joined, 
In  rivers  and  primeval  swamps  appeared 
And  took  possession  of  the  double  realm, 
O'er  which    their  stronger  members    reigned  su 
preme, 

Until  the  sceptre  of  reptilian  sway 
Passed  to  terrestrial  tribes  of  higher  grade. 
Among  these  rulers  of  the  ancient  world 
Were  forms  enormous  of  the  lizard  kind, 
Megalosaurus  and  iguanodon, 
The  mightiest  reptiles  Earth  has  e'er  beheld, 
Of  shape  and  stature  so  uncouth  and  vast, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  25 

The  very  ground,  yet  miry  and  infirm, 

Seemed  filled  with  dread,  and  shook  when  over  it 

The  bulk  enormous  and  portentous  trod  : 

Nor  even  were  the  upper  realms  exempt 

From  these  strange  monsters  of  the  saurian  type  ; 

For  flying  dragons  clad  in  shining  scales 

Spread  terror  through  the  regions  of  the  air. 

These  vestiges  prodigious  indicate 

The  period  that  is  called  the  u  saurian  age." 

Then  birds  appeared,  first  rudimentary 

And  wingless,  probably.     Of  some,  the  strides 

And  footprints  yet  are  marked  upon  the  sands 

That  constituted,  ages  since,  the  shores 

Whereon  they  trod,  wading  the  shallow  verge 

On  long  and  stilt-like  legs.     The  sands  now  turned 

To  stone  eternal,  are  thus  made  to  bear 

A  lasting  record  of  this  early  age. 

Some  of  the  strides  would  lead  us  to  infer 

The  birds  that  made  them  of  a  size  so  vast, 

That  man  were  as  a  pigmy  by  their  side. 

If  pigmy  nations,  as  of  old  was  sung 

By  Homer,  had  such  cranes  as  those  to  fight, 

No  wonder  that  they  waged  a  doubtful  war. 

Sequent  to  these,  in  time,  came  forms  that  brought 

Their  offspring  forth  alive,  and  suckled  them. 


26  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Of  these  low  grades  marsupial  first  appeared, 
That  form  an  intermediate  link  between 
Egg-bearing  animals  and  those  that  bring 
Their  offspring  to  the  world  the  most  mature  ; 
Then  higher  kinds  in  turn  progressively. 
Still  brutal  force  retained  ascendancy  ; 
And  ere  its  dynasty  was  overturned 
The  "  elphantine  age  "  was  ushered  in — 
A  truly  giant  age — its  animals, 
Not  all  of  them,  indeed,  but  many  kinds, 
Exceeding  far  in  size  the  kindred  tribes 
That  now  are  found  upon  the  face  of  earth. 
As  yet  man  had  not  entered  on  the  scene. 
The  mastodon  and  mammoth  then  held  sway, 
And  sloths  as  huge,  the  mighty  megathere 
And  megalonyx,  whose  resistless  strength 
Overthrew  for  food  the  largest  forest  trees  : 
And  mid  the  wilderness  of  lake  and  marsh, 
The  dinotherium  spread  its  fearful  bulk  ; 
And  swinish  tapirs  of  proportions  vast, 
Wallowed  and  rooted  in  congenial  mud. 
Such  were  the  monarchs  of  the  ages  past, 
The  earth-born  giants  of  prehuman  times, 
"Whose  forceful  reign  extended  o'er  the  world 
When  might  alone  conferred  the  right  to  rule  ; 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  27 

The  growth  of  times  that  favored  bulk  and  strength, 

As  earth  grew  old,  its  higher  types  of  life 

Slowly  approached  the  human  shape,  until 

Of  all  created  things  the  last  and  best, 

Responsive  to  God's  laws  of  progress  wise, 

Came  man  ;  the  image  of  his  Maker  he, 

And  petty  standard  of  the  Measureless. 

"With  him  began  the  reign  of  mind  on  earth, 

And  intellect  to  dominate  o'er  force. 

Sparse  and  disjointed  as  these  records  are, 

Each  but  referring  to  a  single  age, 

While  those  of  millions  doubtless  are  unread, 

They,  notwithstanding,  show  the  spirit  of  life 

That  makes  its  home  upon  this  ball  of  earth, 

To  be  a  soaring  and  ambitious  one, 

Disposed  to  take  an  ever  upward  course. 

When  we  reflect  how  few  the  known  remains, 

Compared  to  what  arc  lost  or  out  of  reach, 

May  we  not  deem  that,  were  the  records  whole 

And  open  to  the  eye  of  scrutiny, 

It  would  beyond  all  doubt  be  manifest 

That  higher  kinds  of  life  to  kinds  below 

Are  linked  by  imperceptible  degrees  : 

While  all  arc  bound  by  changeless  laws  divine, 

And  made  to  run  alone  as  they  provide  ? 


28  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

This  lengthened  scale  of  life  of  many  kinds, 
Ascending  step  by  step,  each  occupied 
By  messengers  that  carry  out  the  will 
Of  the  Eternal  Mind,  may  be  compared 
To  that  high  ladder  Jacob  in  his  dream, 
As  he  on  stony  couch  at  Bethel  slept, 
Beheld  extending  upward  to  the  skies  • 
On  which  the  angel-ministers  of  God 
Ascended  and  descended  to  and  fro. 
From  Him  the  immortal  sentient  spark  descends  ; 
To  Him,  its  mission  done,  again  returns. 
He  over  all  presides,  and  from  His  throne 
Above,  looks  down  with  a  parental  eye  ; 
Nor  limited  to  this  one  world  His  love  ; 
Unbounded,  it  pervades  the  universe. 

In  this  progressive,  step  by  step  ascent, 
From  lower  up  to  higher  grades  of  life, 
That  seems  to  mark  the  history  of  the  world, 
The  progress  of  each  organ  to  describe, 
How  slowly  it  expands,  and  how  assumes 
New  parts  and  powers  to  fill  its  higher  ends, 
Were  tedious,  and  would  much  extend  my  task 
Beyond  the  limits  brief  I  am  to  keep  ; 
But  still  this  could  be  done  were  it  allowed. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  29 

Let  one  suffice — the  heart.     At  first  alone, 

One  cell  the  vital  fluid  serves  to  pump 

To  every  part ;  but  when  life  has  advanced 

To  the  fish  stage,  two  cells  the  heart  contains. 

Reptilian  hearts  have  three — mammalian,  four. 

The  key  this  mystery  to  unlock  was  shown 

Two  centuries  and  more  ago,  when  he, 

The  wise  and  good  physician,  first  explained 

The  mazy  circulation  of  the  blood 

To  him  of  hapless  fate  on  Albion's  throne, 

The  second  of  the  ill-starred  Stuart  line. 

This  key  throws  open  wide  the  door  to  light. 

In  nature's  simplest  forms  of  life  the  blood, 

Unurged  and  stagnant,  needs  no  forceful  pump  ; 

Each  part  imbibing  from  the  general  store 

That  bathes  the  whole,  its  liquid  pabulum. 

Xor  lungs,  nor  gills  to  aerate  the  blood 

As  yet  invite  it  in  a  two-fold  course  ; 

These  come  in  time,  and  then  some  force  it  needs 

To  drive  it  round  arid  make  it  permeate 

The  lungs  or  gills,  that  from  the  element, 

Or  air  or  water,  as  the  case  may  be, 

In  which  they  live,  extract  the  vital  air. 

In  some  molluscous  and  crustacean  forms 

One  cell  for  this  sufiiccs  ;  higher  grades 


30  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Of  these  have  two,  when  next  in  rank  they  rise 
To  fish  with  vertebrae  and  double  hearts. 
The  three-fold  reptile  heart  compels  the  blood 
Partly  to  flow  in  double  rounds,  the  one 
The  lungs  to  flood  and  there  be  purified, 
The  other  to  build  up  the  changeful  frame. 
The  four-fold  heart  impels  the  vital  tide 
Wholly  and  perfectly  in  double  rounds 
Before  its  arduous  duties  can  be  done. 
The  end  of  this  increased  complexity, 
Wherefore  the  blood  demands  a  two-fold  course 
With  greater  quantity  of  vital  air, 
To  suit  the  higher  purposes  of  life, 
Is  easily  explained  and  understood. 
Life  is  activity,  and  this  brings  wear 
And  tear  of  organs  ;  even  thought  entails 
Destruction  on  its  implement — the  brain. 
The  more  activity  the  greater  wear  ; 
And  this  demands  coincident  supply  ; 
Involving  increased  means  to  make  the  blood 
By  which  the  organs  are  repaired  and  built, 
To  urge  it  round,  and  by  the  air  respired, 
To  give  it  purity  and  vital  heat. 
Low  forms  of  life,  sluggish,  gelatinous, 
Float  passively  upon  the  tepid  wave  : 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  31 

Testaceous  forms  keep  house  ;  what  nature  gives 
For  food  they  take,  nor  discontented  waste 
Their  little  stock  of  life  in  vain  desire  ; 
Reptilian  life,  possessed  of  wider  powers, 
Yet  draws  its  happiness  from  passive  joys, 
As  warmth,  repletion,  indolence,  and  sleep. 
Eager  and  active  more,  mammalian  life 
Takes  half  its  time  to  satisfy  its  wants 
And  half  to  rest  and  renovation  gives  ; 
While  man,  of  nervous  frame  and  thoughtful  mind, 
Gives  full  two-thirds  of  his  to  thought  or  toil, 
And  thus  by  exercising  all  his  powers, 
Promotes  their  increase  and  his  happiness. 

The  story  of  the  progress  of  the  world, 
As  told  in  all  its  varied  forms  of  life, 
Is  wonderfully  told  again,  in  brief, 
In  embryonic  growths  ;  these  nascent  germs 
Being  found,  before  the  perfect  type  is  reached, 
To  thread,  in  turn,  each  lower  phase  of  life. 
Let  us, for  instance,  note  the  various  steps 
The  human  bud  goes  through,  ere  it  becomes 
An  independent  plant  and  broken  off 
From  the  parental  stem.     In  primal  guise 
A  simple  monad  it  is  found  to  be, 


32  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Unfathered,  save  by  life's  prolific  laws  ; 
This  next  a  pulpy  mass  with  rudiments 
Of  nervous  growth,  assumes  molluscous  form  ; 
The  organs  then  assume  the  fish-like  type  : 
Reptilian  next  the  budding  frame  becomes  ; 
Progressing  slowly  to  the  mammal  type, 
And  growing  gradually  to  that  of  man. 
Not  in  external  shape  is  this  displayed 
So  much  as  in  the  organs  visceral  ; 
During  the  germination  of  the  frame, 
The  fountain  head  of  that  organic  life 
That  rears  the  fabric  and  repairs  the  waste, 
The  heart,  its  archetypal  states  repeats. 
A  single  throbbing  cell  it  first  appears, 
Next,  two-fold,  takes  the  form  of  fishes'  hearts, 
Then  three-fold  grows,  as  in  the  reptile  class, 
And,  finally,  as  in  the  mammal  heart, 
It  reaches  its  four-chambered,  highest  stage. 
The  brain,  the  organ  of  the  nobler  life 
That  to  the  sense  the  universe  reveals  ; 
The  harp  of  intellect  of  many  strings, 
From  which  such  wondrous  music  is  evoked, 
When  rightly  tuned  by  the  Creator's  hand, 
In  equal  pace  advances  with  the  rest. 
As  here  is  the  distinctive  mark  of  man, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  33 

The  cause  in  chief  of  all  his  excellence, 

For  more  development  we  well  may  look 

Than  can  in  lower  genera  be  found  ; 

Xor  arc  we  disappointed  in  the  search. 

At  first  we  note  the  simple  form  and  parts 

That  in  the  brains  of  fishes  may  be  seen  ; 

It  next  resembles  the  reptilian  brain  ; 

And    passing     through    the    bird    and     mammal 

grades, 

Becomes  the  complicated  brain  of  man. 
Gestation  lingered  seems  to  be  a  cause 
Productive  of  advanced  development  ; 
The  more  its  stages,  more  prolonged  its  term, 
The  higher  is  the  ultimate  result 
In  physical  or  moral  attributes. 
So  was  it  at  the  first,  so  is  it  now, 
And  probably  so  ever  will  remain, 
Fixed  by  God's  wise  decrees,  world  without  end. 
In  all  how  wonderful  the  harmony  ! 
How  clear  the  evidences  of  design ! 

Enough  of  this  ;  no  treatise  would  I  write 
On  animals,  their  classes  and  their  kinds  ; 
1  merely  wish  to  illustrate  the  fact 
That  animation  tends  to  travel  in 


34  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

An  upward  and  expansive  path,  that  leads 
By  slow  development  to  higher  powers. 

The  wide-spread  realms  of  water,  earth  and  air 
Appear  to  be  replete  with  germs  of  life, 
Which  meeting  with  conditions  suitable, 
As  light,  warmth,  food  and  vital  stimulus, 
Expand  into  organic  forms,  in  kind 
Depending  much  upon  the  agencies 
By  which  their  growth  and  being  are  sustained. 
Where   life   can  be   maintained,    there   life   shall 

be  ; 

A  wise  and  bounteous  law  of  nature  this. 
Thus  come  all  simple,  primal  forms  of  life, 
The  first  progenitors  of  every  race  ; 
The  links  combined,  a  lengthened  chain  is  formed, 
Extending  from  the  dim  and  misty  past, 
Into  the  darkness  of  the  time  to  come. 
What  other  forms  may  there  be  brought  to  light, 
He,  the  Omniscient,  only  can  foreknow. 
Something,  perhaps,  as  much  above  mankind, 
As  man  is  to  the  meanest  thing  that  crawls, 
May  claim  dominion  o'er  the  world  ;  in  short, 
To  what  may  be  no  limits  can  be  set ; 
We  see  the  future  dimly  in  the  past. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  35 

Earth's  changes  have  been  frequent,  though  hut 

slow  ; 

And  with  them,  and  with  equal  pace,  have  changed 
Its  forms  of  life  :  this  all  will  now  admit ; 
The  only  doubt  is  how  these  changes  came. 
A  general  faith  prevails,  that  constant  laws 
O'er  all  the  realms  of  Nature  now  preside  : 
That  force  miraculous  need  not  be  used 
To  give  an  impulse  new  to  her  designs, 
Then  sink  upon  her  lap  to  sleep  again. 
'Tis  said  the  age  of  miracles  has  passed, 
Creation  reached  its  culminating  point, 
A  ncl  that  hereafter  things  of  earth  will  stay 
As  now  they  are,  until  the  end  of  time  : 
Although  in  former  times  'twas  otherwise 
They  say;  and  necessary  was  it  then, 
To  start  creation  now  and  then  afresh; 
As  old  machinery  when  too  much  worn 
By  time  and  use,  must  be  replaced  by  new  ; 
But  some,  and  I  agree  with  them,  believe 
Such  patch-work  never  needful  to  the  works 
Of  Him  who  is  eternal  in  Himself 
And  equally  eternal  in  His  laws  ; 
Who  makes  no  oversights,  but  from  the  first 
Sees  and  provides  for  all  that  is  come. 


36  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Whatever  He  does  is  absolutely  good. 

His  perfect  plans  no  unforseen  event 

Can  in  the  least  derange  or  interrupt. 

Onward  they  run  in  one  unbroken  chain 

Of  cause  and  consequence,  world  without  end. 

When  first  He  sent  the  potent  fiat  forth, 

The  Logos  that  had  dwelt  within  His  breast 

From  all  eternity  ;  the  forceful  Cause, 

In  other  words,  that  bade  creation  take, 

Out  of  its  mingled  elements,  all  shapes, 

Replete  with  beauty  and  utility, 

That  grace  the  world,  and  His  designs  fulfill, 

And  into  senseless  chaos  poured  the  soul 

Of  harmony  and  happiness  divine, 

Willed  into  force  the  latent  laws  of  life, 

Awoke  its  germs  and  gave  them  form  and  sense, 

And  bade  them  fruitful  be  and  multiply, 

The  laws  of  progress  then  He  fixed  for  aye. 

The  thread  of  all  events  to  come  He  wrapt, 

As  'twere  upon  a  reel ;  and  it  remained 

Alone  for  time,  the  spinner,  to  unwind 

With  busy  fingers  the  protracted  skein, 

For  Fate  and  Circumstance,  mysterious  pair, 

One  born  of  heaven,  one  of  earth  brought  forth, 

In  wefts  of  ever  varying  hue  to  weave. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  3V 

The  laws  of  Nature  know  of  no  repeal. 
Or  changeless  these,  and  fixed  as  God  Himself, 
Of  whom  they  arc  the  signs  and  evidence, 
Or  else  they  vary  like  the  laws  of  men — 
A  supposition  not  to  be  maintained  : 
And  these  eternal  laws,  in  things  of  life, 
Accomodating  change  must  bring  about, 
To  fit  them  to  the  changes  of  the  world 
And  the  conditions  under  which  they  live, 
Or  else  a  new  creation  must  be  made, 
Without  dependence  on  preceding  ones, 
When  circumstances  change  to  that  degree 
That  they  become  unfitted  to  sustain 
The  former  orders  of  organic  life. 
This  last  alternative  was  i:  orthodox," 
Before  men  learned  to  see  in  Nature's  laws 
The  best  and  only  proofs  of  Nature's  God  ; 
When  Science  learned  to  walk  in  leading-strings. 
She  now  can  go  without  these  childish  aids; 
And  "  orthodoxy,"  like  most  other  things,    . 
Is  tried  by  weight  and  taken  at  its  worth. 

It  has  been  gravely  asked,  "  Who  ever  saw 
Development  proceed  to  the  extent 
Of  changing  low  to  higher  grades  of  life  ?" 


38  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

The  answer  is,  it  is  a  work  of  time, 

The  tardy  growth  of  untold  centuries  : 

Dependent  it  may  seem,  perhaps,  on  things 

Of  accident,  blind  chance,  or  destiny; 

Yet  doubtless  brought  about,  as  all  things  are, 

By  laws  and  causes  fixed  and  definite, 

And  all  conducive  to  those  goodly  ends 

Intended  from  the  very  origin. 

Thus  every  living  thing  is  harmonized 

To  the  conditions  under  which  'tis  placed. 

However  wrought,  all  beneficial  change 

In  part  or  function,  is  increased  by  use, 

Maintained  by  the  advantage  that  accrues 

To  its  possessors  in  the  strife  of  life, 

And  handed  down  to  their  posterity  ; 

The  races  thus  from  age  to  age  improve — 

The  arduous  steep  of  life  they  thus  ascend. 

Of  those  who  only  credit  what  they  see, 

These  questions  in  return,  may  well  be  asked  : 

If  all  the  motions  of  the  universe, 

And  all  its  forms  of  life  depend  on  laws, 

Unchangeable  and  fixed,  as  I  believe 

They  do,  have  ever  done  and  ever  will, 

What  law  or  process  natural  could  make 

•'  Innumerous  living  creatures,  perfect  forms, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  39 

"  Limbed  and  full-grown,  out  of  the  earth  uprise 
"  As  from  his  lair  the  wild  beast  where  he  wons 
"  In  forest  wide,  in  thicket,  brake,  or  den  ?  " 
Who  ever  saw  "  the  grass-clods  calve  ?  "  or  saw 
"  The  tawny  lion  pawing  to  get  free 
"  His    hinder   parts,    then  spring,  as   broke  from 

bonds, 

"  And  rampant  shake  his  brindled  mane  ?  "  or  saw 
"  The  libbard  and  the  tiger,  as  the  mole, 
"  Rising,  the  crumbled  earth  above  them  throw 
"  In  hillocks  ?  the  swift  stag  from  underground 
"  With  branching  head,"""  rise  instantaneous, 
Fresh  from  the  plastic  hand  of  God  ?    Such  tales 
May  suit  poetic  fancy,  but  will  scarce 
Pass  current,  now-a-days,  for  sober  fact, 
Or  science  true  ;  for  that  whereon  men  found 
The  pile  of  science,  observation  wide, 
Stands  all  upon  the  other  side  arrayed. 
Xo  natural  laws  were  ever  known  to  man 
That  wonders  such  as  these  could  work  ;  and  if 
Such  were  in  those  prehuman  times,  when  earth 
And  all  that  it  inherited,  went  through 
Those  metamorphoses,  whose  traces  stand 
Recorded  on  the  monuments  of  stone 
*  Paradise  Lost,  Book  VII. 


40  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

That  form  its  circmn vesting  pavement  thick, 

If  such  were  then,  they  must  have  widely  changed  ; 

A  supposition  difficult  of  proof. 

By  process  gradual  changes  oft  we  see, 

May  be  within  the  little  day  of  man, 

In  living  things  induced  ;  then  how  much  more, 

With  each  inconstant  element  at  work, 

Through  ages  inconceivably  prolonged  ? 

When  all  the  Protean  faculties  of  life 

Have  scope  of  countless  centuries  to  clothe 

Its  teeming  products  in  what  shapes  they  list, 

How  can  we  wonder  at  the  multitude 

Of  characters  brought  forth  from  time  to  time  ? 

Who  can  put  limits  to  the  work  divine  ? 

The  operation  of  its  laws  who  bound  ? 

As  things  of  life  have  changed,  so  has  the  world  : 
Though  tardily,  still  onward  in  its  course, 
Like  the  short  index  on  the  dial's  face, 
That  creeps  insensibly  from  point  to  point  ; 
But  slower  far,  its  seconds  centuries. 
At  first  unfitted  was  it  to  sustain 
Organic  life.     Joyless  and  void  it  rolled 
Its  yearly  rounds  for  ages  numberless. 
When  first  with  embryo  forms  it  pregnant  grew, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFK.  41 

The  ocean  tides  swept  on  from  pole  to  pole 

And  cast  to  west,  unchecked  by  bank  or  shore. 

Mcphitic  was  the  atmosphere  and  gross  ; 

Unfit  for  warm  and  active  lungs  to  breathe, 

It  had  infused,  if  animals  with  such, 

That  poison  to  inhale,  existed  then, 

A  poison  deadly  to  the  purple  tide, 

Instead  of  taking  poison  from  the  blood, 

Carbon,  a  needful  source  of  vital  heat, 

When  duly  oxydized  by  means  of  air 

Drawn  through  the  myriad  channels  of  the  lungs— 

For  thus  the  blood  is  warmed  and  purified — 

But  left  therein  unoxydizcd,  the  blood, 

Except  for  sluggish  life,  becomes  unfit 

And  every  faculty  in  Lethe  steeps. 

At  length,  amid  the  boundless  watery  waste 

Islands  appeared,  and  purifying  plants 

Upsprang  and  fed  upon  the  tainted  gale, 

Till  disinfected  and  made  fit  to  breathe  ; 

For  such  the  happy  faculty  of  plants. 

"What  poisons  us,  gives  health  and  growth  to  them. 

Profuse  and  rank  was  vegetation  then, 

Its  growth .  coerced  by  ultra-tropic  heat 

And  fatness  floating  in  the  air  around. 

Forms  that  are  stunted  now  to  ferns  and  reeds, 


42  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

And  mosses  small,  then  grew  to  stately  trees, 

That  now  would  rival  the  majestic  palms 

Of  Ceylon,  or  of  Araby  the  blest. 

This  growth  abundant  of  those  early  times 

When  man  was  not,  nor  breathing  animal 

Above  the  lowest  of  amphibial  kinds, 

To  reap  its  benefits,  now,  turned  to  coal, 

For  purposes  of  light  and  heat  subserves, 

And  on  the  Hercules  of  modern  times, 

With  breath  of  steam,  confers  his  giant  strength  ; 

A  needful  servant  of  man's  intellect, 

When  it  transcends  his  powers  physical. 

This  illustrates  the  heedful  Providence 

Who  rules  the  world  and  sees  things  from  afar  ; 

To  Whom  a  thousand  years  are  as  a  day. 

Thus  preparation  made,  amphibious  things 

Came  from  the  oozy  margins  of  the  deep, 

And  held  supremacy  o'er  both  domains 

Of  land  and  water,  equal  each  their  home. 

As  land  and  plants  and  purer  atmosphere 

Extended  o'er  the  world  by  slow  degrees, 

These  highest  tenants  of  the  former  age, 

Obedient  to  the  potent  will  of  Him, 

Who  is  Lord  paramount  and  reigns  o'er  all, 

Their  titles  yielded  up  to  higher  tribes  ; 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  43 

And  those  again  to  others  higher  still  : 
And  thus  the  primal  rank  ascends  to  man, 
The  last  and  noblest  of  creation's  works, 
Who,  under  God,  is  now  creation's  lord. 
At  liis  approach  the  earth  became  serene 
And  glad,  and  less  by  pangs  internal  vexed. 
The  air  grew  healthful,  temperate  and  pure, 
Balmy  and  redolent  of  incense  sweet, 
Exhaled  from  Flora's  censers  numberless, 
By  .joyful  Zephyrs  wafted  to  and  fro  ; 
And  tuneful  with  the  choral  songs  of  birds. 
In  gladness  Nature  donned  her  best  array, 
And  smiled  her  long-expected  lord  to  greet, 
As,  when  the  bridegroom  cometh,  doth  the  bride. 

How  oft  asserted  is  the  boastful  claim, 
That,  chief  and  last  of  Nature's  progeny, 
For  man  alone  the  world  has  been  prepared. 
For  him  alone,  'tis  said,  the  Great  First  Cause 
Of  all  that  has  been  and  that  is  to  be, 
From  elemental  and  chaotic  fire 
First  bade  this  orb  terrene  assume  its  form  ; 
The  fervent  mass  incased  in  stony  ribs 
Reduplicate  ten  thousand  thousand-fold, 
And  over  all  a  living  carpet  spread  ; 


44  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

The  waters  poured  within  their  proper  beds, 
Spread  out  the  airy  firmament  around, 
And  mingled  there  the  eager  breath  of  life  ; 
For  him  the  mountains,  islands,  continents, 
Above  the  liquid  plain  unnumbered  rise  ; 
For  him  the  changeful  seasons  come  and  go, 
And  countless  bounties  scatter  in  their  path. 
In  short,  for  man  alone,  'tis  said,  were  made 
The  heavens,  the  earth,  and  all  that  they  contain. 
How  vain  and  arrogant  the  boastful  thought ! 
Ere  yet  man  was,  fair  Nature  smiled  around 
And  with  a  lavish  hand  her  favors  strewed, 
Of  every  race  the  joy  and  sustenance. 
As  countless  races  have  preceded  his, 
So,  numberless  shall  its  successors  be. 
For  them,  for  all,  the  world  has  been  prepared. 

The  changes  and  the  fluctuations  all 
That  mark  the  mutability  of  earth, 
And  make  its  scenes  but  pageants  of  the  hour, 
And  life  as  transitory  as  a  dream, 
Flow  in  accordance  to  decrees  and  laws 
Unshunnable  and  fixed  as  those  of  fate  : 
Though  unperceived  those  laws  may  be,  or  seen 
Shapeless  and  vague  as  through  a  glass  obscure. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  45 

The  mission  true  of  man  is  to  inspect 
The  works  of  God,  and  study  out  His  laws  ; 
In  this  alone  docs  our  redemption  lie, 
And  Knowledge  is  the  true  Evangelus. 

Amid  the  turmoil  of  the  elements 
That  constitute  and  build  organic  life, 
Xot  always  uniform  can  progress  be  ; 
For  circumstances,  adverse  more  or  less, 
Or  more  or  less  propitious,  such  as  must 
Be  looked  for  in  these  scenes  of  endless  change, 
The  chain  of  progress  may  disturb,  and  make, 
As  these  or  those  prevail,  the  things  of  life 
Advance,  degenerate,  or  pass.  away. 
All  creatures,  even  man  himself,  who  owns 
A  nature  the  most  pliable  of  all, 
And  earth's  vicissitudes  of  widest  range, 
Is  capable  of  moulding  to  his  use, 
Must  languish  when  the  unpropitious  Fates 
Diffuse  their  blighting  influence  around  : 
But  such  is  the  exception,  not  the  rule  : 
Excelsior  is  the  motto  of  the  world. 

Eternity  of  structure  is  denied 
To  every  fabric,  or  of  God  or  man. 


40  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Stars  have  been  known  to  fade  and  pass  from  sight 

High  into  mountain  peaks  the  thickest  earth 

By  throes  internal  heaves  its  ponderous  crust : 

Fierce  flames  volcanic  issue  from  within, 

And  earthquakes  dire  not  only  topple  down 

Mountains  and  cities,  but  convulse  the  globe 

From  centre  to  extreme  circumference. 

Through  all  this  universal  wreck  and  change, 

The  wisdom  and  benevolence  of  God 

Conspicuous  stand  and  unimpeachable. 

None  but  a  fool  would  dare  His  acts  impugn. 

If,  measured  by  the  judgment  weak  of  man, 

Some  fault  or  imperfection  should  appear 

In  aught  He  does,  'twere  wiser  far  in  us 

To  lay  the  blame  on  our  own  want  of  sense 

To  comprehend  His  plans,  than  impiously 

Attribute  fallibility  to  Him. 

What  though  old  things  decay  and  pass  away  ? 

His  love  and  wisdom  are  displayed  in  this, — 

Thereafter  something  better  still  succeeds. 

His  revolutions  never  retrograde  : 

Ever  more  near  the  bounds  of  perfectness 

His  works  approach,  but  never  reach  the  goal : 

For  thus  Omnipotence  Himself  decrees, 

And  thus  are  shown  His  endless  power  and  love. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  47 

With  this  contented  must  we  rest.     In  time 

It  may  so  elevate  the  sons  of  man, 

And  their  terrestrial  home  so  far  enhance, 

That  it  shall  be  to  them  as  Paradise, 

And  they  as  dwellers  fit  for  such  abode. 

The  ever-living  God  counts  not  like  man, 

By  numbers  formed  by  units,  nor  by  time  ; 

But  by  eternity  and  aggregates. 

lie  will  vouchsafe  to  grant,  when  He  deems  fit, 

Fullfilment  to  the  yearnings  of  the  heart 

For  something  better  than  the  present  state, 

That  He  has  planted  in  the  human  breast 

As  spur  incentive  to  urge  on  advance, 

And  sitrus  and  tokens  of  the  things  to  come. 

(_-  O 

Submissive  to  His  fiat  we  must  bow. 

Let  us  be  thankful  now  for  what  is  given, 

And  wait  with  reverence  upon  IBs  will 

For  what  the  future  has  in  store  for  us. 

Nor  selfishly  and  sinfully  repine 

Because  the  wise  gradations  of  His  works, 

From  age  to  age  advancing  slowly  on, 

Bring  to  the  world  progressive  happiness 

Instead  of  lavishing  the  wThole  at  once 

On  creatures  that  e'en  that  would  scarce  content. 

Each  with  the  race  should  feel  identified, 


48  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Posterity  regarding  as  himself. 

Man  is  not  made  for  perfect  happiness. 

Progressive  in  his  nature,  'tis  his  bliss 

Perfection  to  approach  but  step  by  step, 

Each  stage  improving  on  the  one  before. 

All  of  his  feelings  are  comparative  : 

Without  the  evil  could  he  know  the  good  ? 

All  hopes  of  happiness  without  alloy 

In  men,  or  angels,  or  in  anything 

Of  station  lower  than  Omnipotence, 

Must  be  but  fallacies  ;  for  when  they  see 

A  state  more  perfect  than  their  own,  that  state 

They  will  aspire  to,  as  did  Lucifer, 

And  then  farewell  to  peace  and  happiness. 

Whence  comes  the  vital  spark,  that  subtile  flame 
That  quickens  everything  endowed  with  life  ? 
A  thing  without  or  weight,  or  bulk,  or  parts, 
Yet  joined  to  these,  it  animates  the  mass, 
Giving  it  perfect  form,  and  growth  and  life. 
Can  aught  ethereal  and  sublime  as  this 
Be  part  of  the  gross  substances  of  earth  ? 
This  Nature  hides  behind  a  seven-fold  veil ; 
But  still  a  twilight  dim  steals  through,  and  we 
Can  faintly  see  in  what  this  power  consists. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  49 

In  every  chemical  and  vital  change, 
In  growth  of  plants  and  animals,  in  storms 
And  cloud?,  we  sec  its  potent  agency. 
Across  the  stormy  sky  it  swiftly  darts, 
Its  awful  voice  in  thunder  calls  aloud, 
When  the  black  vap'rous  progeny — begot 
By  Eurus  and  the  Nereids  of  the  Gulf 
Whose  tropic  urn,  embossed  with  palmy  isles, 
Pours  its  warm  current  to  the  icy  north — 
Drive  sullenly  along  the  sky,  and  wring 
Their  dripping  garments  over  all  the  land. 
It  is  the  fire  Prometheus  stole  from  heaven  5 
The  sceptre  of  the  life-bestowing  Jove, 
And  wand  electrical  with  which  he  works 
His  strange  and  endless  metamorphoses, 
As  told  in  mythic  lore  of  Greece  and  Rome, 
That  Nature's  plans  revealed  in  apologue. 
Excited  in  the  brain,  this  subtile  power 
As  swift  as  lightning  traverses  the  nerves 
And  every  silken  fibre  of  the  frame 
Makes  sensitive  and  docile  to  the  will ; 
And  gently  through  the  teeming  earth  diffused, 
The  force  prolific  makes  it  swarm  with  life  ; 
But  when  in  anger  hurled  by  Jove,  this  spark 
Of  life  becomes  the  instrument  of  death. 


50  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

So  bright  Apollo's  genial  radiance  flows 

From  lieaven  to  earth,  conferring  light  and  warmth  ; 

But  too  intense,  the  lucid  rays  divine 

As  deadly  as  Chimera's  breath  become. 

In  life  we  are  in  death  :  the  vital  flame 
Is  fed  by  the  decay  of  every  part ; 
By  life  again  is  every  part  restored, 
And  life  and  death  in  mutual  duties  join. 
In  death  no  more  is  restoration  made  : 
The  interchange  of  earthly  elements 
Then  ends,  and  all  are  rendered  back  to  earth  : 
Thus  is  the  final  debt  of  nature  paid. 
But  not  eternal  is  the  sleep  of  death  ; 
7Tis  but  a  slumber  on  the  lap  of  earth, 
The  common  mother  of  all  living  things, 
And  then  the  atoms  wake  to  life  again, 
In  other  parts  and  other  forms  to  act. 
Thus  Life  is  but  an  actor  on  the  stage, 
And  Death  but  his  attendant  who  takes  off 
His  borrowed  robes  whene'er  he  quits  the  scene, 
Again  to  enter  in  another  dress. 
"Why  should  we  tremble  at  the  needful  part 
Death  really  plays  in  the  affairs  of  life  ? 
Within  his  proper  sphere  as  useful  he, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  51 

As  arc  the  elements  fire,  water,  air, 

By  which  all  creatures  are,  arid  are  sustained. 

E'en  these  in  conflagration,  flood,  and  storm, 

The  limits  of  utility  may  pass, 

And  like  unruly  steeds,  a  loose  career 

Of  riot  run  and  mad  destructiveness. 

What  though  no  form  attractive  Death  assumes 

To  charm  the  superficial  gaze  of  youth 

Unthinking,  prone  to  gayety  and  joy  ? 

For  his  dominion  Heaven  means  not  these  ; 

If  they  become  his  prey,  the  blame  is  theirs. 

For  this  and  the  innumerable  ills 

It  pleases  Providence  to  test  us  with, 

The  tree  of  knowledge  offers  to  mankind 

The  antidotes,  which  rightly  understood 

And  used,  might  almost  place  us  with  the  gods, 

Above  the  evils  of  mortality, 

And  take  all  venom  from  the  shafts  of  Death. 

Alone  the  king  of  terrors  he  becomes, 

"When  armed  as  an  avenger  he  appears, 

And  grimly  stalks  beyond  his  proper  bounds 

To  vindicate  the  laws  of  God  and  man  : 

He  else  is  naught  but  Nature's  chamberlain. 

Stern  and  unwelcome  though  he  be  to  those 

Unready  for  his  call  :  yet,  ah  !  how  sweet 


52  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

To  spent  mortality  that  longs  for  rest, 

And  those  who  are  aweary  of  the  world 

From  suffering  and  devastating  woes 

That  joy  discard,  and  hope  that  lingers  last ! 

Like  sleep,  a  comforter  for  every  ill 

He  then  becomes,  and  Nature's  crowning  boon. 

This,  as  I  read  it,  is  the  simple  tale 
That  nature  tells  concerning  life  and  death. 
No  fearful  mystery  involves  the  fate 
Of  this  brief  habitation  of  the  soul, 
When  the  immortal  tenant  wings  its  flight. 
Although  the  soul,  dissatisfied  and  cramped 
"While  bound  within  the  pris'on  of  the  flesh, 
May  look  to  things  beyond  this  narrow  sphere, 
And,  with  instinctive  prescience  of  its  fate, 
Yearn  after  immortality,  and  wish 
To  share  it  in  the  frail  companionship 
With  which  it  shares  its  joys  and  sorrows  here, 
The  stubborn  facts  by  which  we  are  hemmed  in 
Enforce  upon  the  mind  the  sober  truth 
That  we,  substantially,  are  things  of  earth. 
Twould  little  boot,  methinks,  that  the  effete 
And  damaged  shell  vacated  by  the  soul 
When  fit  no  more  for  its  abode  on  earth, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  53 

Should,  at  the  sound  of  the  last  trump,  arise, 
And  mounting  from  the  tomb  on  airy  wings, 
Be  to  its  tenant  spirit  joined  again, 
For  weal  or  woe,  for  joy  or  misery, 
In  bonds  thereafter  indissolvable. 
In  such  a  worn-out  tenement  to  dwell 
Eternally,  could  scarce  advantage  us, 
Nor  could  its  torture  lead  to  any  good  : 
And  'tis,  methinks,  a  consolation  great, 
That  nature  gives  no  grounds  for  such  belief ; 
But  contradicts  it  in  the  plainest  terms, 
By  showing  that  our  earthly  elements, 
Forth  from  the  warm  embrace  of  life, 
As  well  as  from  the  torpid  arms  of  death, 
Are  ever  flowing  back  to  earth  again  ; 
Returning  to  first  principles,  to  be, 
In  time,  built  up  in  other  living  forms. 
No  particle  belongs  to  one  alone  : 
Each  is  but  parcel  of  a  common  stock. 
If  ours  to-day,  to-morrow  something  else 
The  refluent  atom  for  the  moment  holds, 
And  thus  it  runs  the  gauntlet  of  all  life  ; 
Till  countless  millions  may,  if  any  can 
From  having  had  it  once,  contest  the  right 
To  its  reversion  as  the  heirs  at  law. 


54  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Amid  such  claims  conflicting  to  decide, 
Well  might  grim  Rhadamanthus,  in  despair 
Of  doing  justice,  yield  his  office  up 
As  arbiter  of  disembodied  shades. 

Though  change  is  Nature's  universal  law, 
The  elements  are  indestructible, 
And  neither  have  beginning,  nor  an  end. 
Eternities  can  no  commencement  have  ; 
Things  that  begin  must  also  end  :  but  here 
Upon  the  subject  of  eternity 
I  pause,  nor  care  to  venture  farther  on  : 
The  shallow  line  of  human  intellect 
Was  never  meant  to  sound  its  ocean  depths. 


There  is,  they  say,  .and  I  believe  there  is, 
A  spark  within  us  of  immortal  fire 
That  when  the  body  dies  escapes  to  heaven, 
Its  native  seat,  and  mingles  with  the  gods. 

ARMSTRONG. 


The  instincts  of  brutes  and  insects  can  be  the  effects  of  nothing  else 
than  the  wisdom  and  skill  of  a  powerful,  ever  living  agent,  who  being  in 
all  places,  is  more  able  by  his  own  will  to  move  the  bodies  within  his 
boundless  uniform  sensorium,  and  thereby  form  and  reform  the  parts 
of  the  universe,  than  we  are,  by  our  own  will,  to  move  the  parts  of  our 
bodies. 

SIR  ISAAC  NEWTON. 


Fools  because  of  their  transgressions,  and  because  of  their  iniquities 
arc  afflicted. 

PSALM  csvii.  17, 


'Tis  thus  that  heaven  its  empire  doth  maintain  ; 
It  may  afflict,  but  man  must  not  complain. 

OTWAY. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  55 


THE  SOUL. 


KXORDIUM  —  SOUL  —  IXSTIXCT  —  REASON  —  FAITH  —  THE   LAWS 
OF   NATURE. 

FROJI  matter  and  organic  life  I  pass 
To  that  superior,  more  ethereal  life, 
That  manifests  itself  in  sense  and  thought. 
A  darker  region  here  I  venture  on, 
Less  palpable  the  road,  and  more  beset 
On  every  side  with  ignis  fatuus  lights, 
That  serve  alone  to  lead  the  mind  astray  ; 
More  needful  therefore  to  proceed  with  care, 
And  follow  only  Nature's  steadfast  light, 
Lest  wide  I  wander  in  a  mazy  round, 
Intricate,  lost  to  every  useful  end  ; 
Or  sunk  in  error's  miry  paths,  become 
At  once  the  scorn  and  pity  of  mankind. 

Now,  in  the  palmy  nineteenth  century, 
That  boasts,  and  justly,  too,  of  progress  great 
In  all  the  varied  arts  and  sciences  : 
When  Knowledge  more  expands  her  wings,  and 

takes 
A  wider  flight  than  in  old,  by-gone  times 


56  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Was  even  dreamed  of ;  and  when  every  day 

Almost,  unfolds  some  revelation  new 

Concerning  Nature's  deepest  mysteries  ; 

When  man,  made  bold  by  science,  dares  to  grasp 

The  arms  of  the  immortal  gods,  and  makes 

The  bolts  of  Jove,  Apollo's  radiant  darts, 

His  tools  and  playthings  ;  makes  the  lucid  ray 

A  willing  pencil  that  can  counterfeit 

The  charms  of  Nature's  face  so  faithfully, 

That  she  herself  might  own  the  work  with  pride  : 

And  mounts  his  thoughts  upon  the  thunderbolt 

To  take  an  instant  flight  around  the  world, 

Leaving  the  sun  a  laggard  on  the  road, 

And  leaping  over  every  obstacle, 

Though  Ocean's  self,  by  angry  tempests  chafed, 

Should  interpose  his  wide-spread,  watery  reign, 

And  thunder  forth  a  wrathful  interdict. 

Now,  in  this  palmy  nineteenth  century, 

When  science  takes  such  high  and  daring  flights, 

A  point  there  is  on  which  some  craven  hearts 

Are  terribly  alarmed  lest  they  should  know 

Too  much ;  they  therefore  trembling  cry  "  Forbear  I" 

If  any  hand  attempt  to  raise  the  veil 

That  screens  their  tender  sense  from  too-much  light. 

That  subject  is  the  soul ;  concerning  which, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  57 

The  less  the  mind,  involved  in  night  and  dreams, 

Can  comprehend,  the  more  dogmatical 

Men  get.  and  prone  to  clamor  and  abuse. 

Thank  God,  that  other  means,  more  violent, 

Assent  reluctant  to  extort,  arc  not 

As  much  in  vogue  as  in  those  "  good  old  times," 

When  hapless  unbelievers  were  condemned 

As  sacrifices  and  burnt-offerings, 

And  the  black  smoke  of  human  holocausts 

Hung  like  a  frown  upon  the  face  of  heaven, 

And  seemed  to  blot  out  pity  from  the  skies  ; 

Tainting  the  ambient  air  with  nauseous  steams 

And  suffocating  stench  of  burning  flesh, — 

Incense  appropriate  to  the  fiends  alone, 

Yet  thought  to  be  acceptable  to  God, 

As  sweet  and  savory  odors  are  to  men  ; — 

And  this  was  deemed  a  righteous  "  act  of  faith !" 

How  much  have  men,  0  God,  mistaken  Thee ! 

What  profanations  do  they  perpetrate 

"When  Superstition,  in  the  holy  garb 

Of  Piety,  usurps  the  place  of  Faith ! 

But  true,  the  world  grows  wiser  every  day  ; 

And  better,  too,  no  doubt ;  'twere  hard  to  do 

The  one  without  the  other,  inasmuch 

As  Vice  is  only  found  at  Folly's  heels. 


58  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Yet  for  improvement  ample  room  remains. 
Knowledge  to  some  extent  is  still  in  bonds  ; 
The  hounds  of  persecution,  though  bereft 
Of  fang  to  tear,  still  growl  and  bark  at  all 
Who  dare,  against  the  fashion,  to  invest 
Their  souls  in  other  than  its  threadbare  faith. 

In  darkness  only  bigotry  can  live, 
And  daylight  dawns  upon  a  waking  world. 
In  its  due  time  the  sun  shall  rise  to  drive 
The  shades  and  spectres  of  the  night  away, 
And  Persecution  and  Intolerance 
Shall  go  to  dwell  with  kindred  fiends  in  gloom ; 
And  in  their  stead  the  goddess  Liberty, 
Who  from  its  fetters  disenthralls  the  soul, 
Shall  make  her  home  with  men,  beloved  of  all ; 
And  all  her  heaven-born  train,  serene  Content, 
Fair  Truth  of  candid  countenance,  sweet  Peace, 
Mirth-giving  Plenty,  and  though  last,  not  least, 
Pure  Faith  with  love-illumined  eye  shall  come 
With  her,  and  make  a  paradise  on  earth. 
The  Now  doth  ever  wrestle  with  the  Past  : 
And  Destiny,  with  Progress  by  her  side, 
Hastens  to  crown  with  wreaths  the  younger  brow. 
The  history  of  the  world,  in  this  respect, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  59 

Is  acted  o'er  again  in  every  age. 

The  youthful  spirit  of  the  present  time 

Is  e'er  engaged  in  conflict  with  the  Past. 

The  latter,  timid,  shuns  the  open  plain, 

And  seeks  the  shelter  of  his  battlements, 

To  ply  his  thunders  from  behind  the  walls. 

Though  some,  perhaps,  may  tremble  at  the  sound, 

They  daily  learn  to  tremble  less  and  less  : 

For  current  sound,  like  current  coin,  they  learn 

To  take  alone  for  what  'tis  really  worth. 

The  march  of  progress  and  the  march  of  time 

Arc  in  the  issue  of  affairs  as  one  ; 

And  all  things  by  their  own  inherent  laws 

Incline,  in  every  change,  to  harmony. 

The  course  of  Nature  is  an  onward  one  ; 

Nor  will  she  long  allow  discordant  strains 

To  mar  the  tuneful  concert  of  her  works. 

Oppression,  treachery,  abuse  of  power, 

All  deeds  of  wrong  in  time  shall  be  repaid, 

And  justice  in  the  end  be  meted  out. 

The  wounded  heart  here  finds  a  soothing  balm, 

And  venomed  arrogance  its  antidote. 

Let  him  who  sets  himself  against  this  law, 

Who  deals  unjustly  by  his  fellow-man, 

Sows  in  his  heart  the  seeds  of  cruelty, 


60  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Or  stains  his  soul  in  any  -way  with  wrong, 
Beware !  for  surely  as  he  lives  the  doom 
Of  righteous  retribution  shall  o'ertake 
His  guilty  steps,  wherever  he  may  flee, 
And  vindicate  the  providence  of  God. 

Thus  much  to  deprecate  intolerance  ; 
And  now  proceed  we  with  the  theme  proposed. 

The  soul,  the  sentient  essence,  source  of  thought, 
That  in  the  time-piece  of  the  flesh  encased, 
Swings  to  and  fro — the  passions'  pendulum — 
From  joy  to  grief,  from  grief  to  joy  again, 
And  the  dull  form  of  earth  makes  sensitive  ; 
That  like  a  sentinel  upon  the  walls, 
Keeps  watch  and  ward  against  assaults  of  foes  : 
What  is  it,  whence,  why  is  it  thus  enshrined, 
And  whither  does  it  wing  when  it  takes  flight? 
A  problem  this  that  has  evoked  the  skill 
And  cunning  sophistry  of  every  age  ; 
But  on  it  still  the  world  is  all  adrift, 
And  no  abiding  anchorage  is  found. 
Since  it  has  led  to  no  result  but  this, 
7Tis  time  that  we  should  sophistry  discard, 
And,  following  the  lead  of  no  false  lights, 
Pursue  the  plainest  path  that  nature  points. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  61 

It  is  supposed,  and  I  believe  it  true, 
Wherever  intellect  or  sense  exists, 
A  subtile  principle  is  planted  there, 
As  much  more  exile  and  refined,  perhaps, 
Than  the  electrical  or  vital  spark, 
As  that  is  than  the  gross  material  clay. 
A  deity,  as  'twere,  enshrined  within  ; 
The  petty  god-head  of  the  microcosm. 
This  sentient  principle  we  call  the  soul. 
By  some  7tis  thought  to  be — I  think  so,  too — 
An  emanation  of  the  Infinite, 
Who   makes   His   dwelling   throughout  boundless 

space. 

The  universe  is  His  embodiment, 
And  lie  the  Mind  that  animates  the  whole  ; 
The  Spirit  of  Intelligence  who  rules 
With  undivided  and  eternal  sway. 
By  His  control  we  live,  and  breathe,  and  act ; 
In  Him  originates  our  every  thought ; 
In  brief,  the  Universal  Soul  is  He, 
And  boundless  Source  Original  of  light, 
Of  which  the  souls  of  men  arc  merely  sparks, 
That  briefly  shine  as  glow-worms  ;  then  the  light, 
But  borrowed  for  a  while,  is  rendered  back, 
E'en  as  our  dust  returns  to  whence  it  came. 


62  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

In  tins  consists  our  immortality, 

And  that  of  everything  that  feels  and  thinks. 

The  sentient  principle  knows  no  decay, 

Nor  is  it  subject  to  material  laws. 

Changeless  in  essence  is  it  as  its  Source. 

Something  of  immortality  all  have 

That  with  perceptive  powers  are  endowed. 

If  mind  must  be  immortal,  as  is  said 

By  almost  every  creed,  and  I  believe, 

All  mind  must  share  this  quality  divine. 

A  ray  immortal  'tis,  wherever  placed, 

In  kind  the  same,  though  different  in  degree, 

And  nowhere  showing  more  diversity 

Than  in  the  opposites  of  human  kind, 

The  highest  and  the  lowest  intellects. 

To  some  the  light  of  reason  is  denied  ; 

No  seeming  import  in  their  form  and  mark, 

They  stand  as  blots  upon  the  page  of  life ; 

In  some  the  animal  preponderates, 

And  these  by  instincts  low  are  hurried  on  ; 

And  some,  more  godlike  in  their  faculties, 

Weigh  well  the  consequences  of  their  acts, 

And  pick  their  way  by  reason's  higher  aid. 

Though  bound  thereto  for  purposes  of  life, 

Mind,  or  in  instinct  or  in  reason  shown, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  63 

Is  not  the  offspring  merely  of  the  brain, 
Begot  by  action  of  the  senses  five, 
As  sonic  philosophers  would  have  us  think. 
It  independent  often  shows  itself 
Of  observation  and  experiment, 
In  innate  and  unbidden  impulses 
That  rise  in  men  and  animals,  and  prompt 
To  necessary  acts  and  thoughts  of  life. 
Man  feels  the  want  and  yields  to  it  or  not, 
As  he  deems  fit.     Beyond  the  act  itself 
He  sees  the  sequel — that  to  which  it  leads  : 
Not  so  the  lower  kinds  ;  they  feel  the  want, 
They  know  not  why  ;  a  craving  of  the  heart 
And  not  the  head,  that  will  not  be  appeased 
Until  the  action  prompted  is  performed, 
And  then  they  fret  not  for  the  consequence. 
They,  happy,  know  alone  the  present  need. 
Their  acts  instinctive  are  as  well  performed 
As  the  most  studied  workmanship  of  man. 
Witness  those  cells  hexagonal  wherein 
The  prudent  bees  store  up  their  winter  fare. 
Not  Archimedes,  nor  the  learned  tribe, 
With  all  the  aid  of  instruments  and  art, 
Could  aught  improve  upon  the  insect  plan. 


64  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

An  emissary  from  the  throne  of  God, 
Sent  on  the  errand  of  His  fostering  love, 
Instinct  is  untaught  nature's  faithful  guide. 
Her  mission  from  on  high  conferred,  she  scorns 
All  human  interference,  and  disdains 
In  artificial  ways  of  life  to  walk. 
She  hates  instruction  and  the  rules  severe 
That  constitute  her  sister  Reason's  aids. 
Useless  to  her  the  trammels  of  the  schools  ; 
No  study  needs  she  ;  perfect  from  the  first, 
Unconscious  of  the  end  to  be  produced, 
Without  a  thought  or  error  does  she  work  : 
This  shows  her  origin  to  be  divine. 
She  is  the  angel  of  the  lower  tribes 
That  cannot  see  the  light  of  God,  and  have 
But  her  to  guide  them  in  the  proper  path. 
In  them  the  unknown  light  in  darkness  shines, 
And  they  in  darkness  comprehend  it  not.* 
In  man  the  light  shines  brighter,  and  by  it 
He  sees  through  nature  up  to  nature's  God. 
He  walks  less  blindly,  more  controlled  by  laws, 
Which  reason  illustrates  and  time  unfolds  ; 
Hence  the  advancement  of  his  social  state. 
While  the  great  progress  of  the  human  mind 
*  Gospel  of  St.  John,  Ch.  i.,  v.  5. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  65 

Is  evident  to  all  who  read  or  think, 
Communities  of  beavers  and  of  bees, 
And  other  creatures  that  by  social  ties 
Are  bound  more  rigidly  than  man  himself, 
No  token  of  improvement  have  evinced  : 
Their  skill  and  habits  still  remain  the  same, 
The  lips  of  knowledge  arc  to  them  sealed  up, 
The  past  and  future  nothing  but  a  blank, 
And  countless  ages  pass  in  silence  on. 

Reason  and  instinct  are  the  lucid  gleams 
By  which  the  All-Pervading  Intellect 
Vouchsafes  to  manifest  Himself  on  earth  : 
Faint  indications  of  a  Radiant  Source 
That  the  gross  sense  of  man  cannot  behold  ; 
Like  those  that  herald  Phoebus  in  the  east 
When  first  Aurora  lifts  the  veil  of  Night. 
They  are  the  spirit-messengers  of  heaven, 
Announcing  God  the  ruler  and  the  guide 
Of  all  the  vast  varieties  of  life. 
Reason  and  instinct  both,  to  some  extent, 
In  all  the  higher  genera  are  found  ; 
In  animals  the  latter  most  is  seen, 
Tiie  former  most  adorns  the  brow  of  man  ; 
While  instinct  only  on  the  narrow  walk 


66  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Of  lower  kinds  bestows  a  feeble  ray. 

Archangel  and  chief  messenger  benign, 

Fraught  with  the  high  behests  of  Heaven  to  man, 

Reason  sublime  its  brightest  halo  spreads 

Around  his  head  and  marks  him  lord  of  all. 

As  different  lamps  these  faculties  divine  ; 

One  bright,  one  faint.     One  casting  wide  its  beams 

Throughout  the  starry  regions  of  all  space, 

And  down  into  the  lowest  depths  of  earth  ; 

Or  far  into  the  misty  realms  of  time, 

The  regions  of  the  past  and  future  dim  ; 

And  shedding  light,  reflected  or  direct, 

On  things  of  fancy  and  on  things  of  fact, 

Up  even  to  the  great  First  Cause  of  all. 

The  other  limited  to  narrow  scope, 

And  shedding  light  alone  on  sensual  things 

Demanded  by  the  present  exigence. 

Among  the  races  of  this  teeming  world, 

The  mark  of  excellence  and  badge  of  rank 

Is  that,  the  brighter  of  these  guiding  lights 

That  serve  to  lead  them  in  their  various  ways. 

However  fettered  and  in  darkness  bred, 

As  reason  often  is,  for  fear  the  light 

Should  tempt  it  off  in  unsafe  paths  to  stray, 

Some  token  of  its  native  Source  it  gives  ; 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  67 

The  lucid  ray  it  eager  thirsts  to  driuk, 
And  bows  at  the  imputed  shrine  of  truth. 

A  General  Origin  of  light  and  laws, 
A  Guardian  Intellect,  who  rules  supreme, 
With  one  accord  the  heavens  and  earth  proclaim. 
Of  one  Diffused  Intelligence  we  see 
In  every  place  abundant  proofs  that  shine 
To  reason's  eyes  with  noon-day  brilliancy, 
And  they  who  see  them  not  must  be  stone  blind. 

Man,  having  reason  for  his  guide,  must  learn 
By  knowledge  gathered  from  the  tree  of  life, 
Prolific  of  both  good  and  evil  fruits. 
Eeason  is  given  him  to  judge  of  these, 
And  prompt  him  in  the  choice  he  has  to  make  ; 
Or  by  experiment  and  study  teach 
To  turn  the  evil  to  a  good  account. 
Thus  evil  serves  to  discipline  the  mind 
And  give  it  exercise,  inducing  strength, 
An  enemy  to  which  is  idleness. 
Both  physical  and  mental  force  begin 
At  zero  in  all  animated  things  : 
Thence  slowly  are  developed  step  by  step. 
The  boundless  universe  itself,  and  all 


68  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

The  wonderful  profusion  of  its  works, 
From  suns  and  worlds  to  animals  and  plants, 
Seem  made  inductively,  each  separate  part 
Advancing  still  with  consentaneous  grades. 
We  here  the  primal  pattern  of  that  rule 
And  method  in  the  search  of  truth  may  find, 
Explained  by  him  who  has  been  styled,  at  once, 
"  The  greatest,  wisest,  meanest  of  mankind." 
Who  science  freed  from  the  pedantic  bonds 
And  narrow  limits  of  scholastic  rule  ; 
And  taught,  instead  of  speculation  vague, 
To  study  facts,  and  thus  securely  pass 
By  slow  gradations  on  to  certainty. 
The  dawn  of  mind  is  like  the  dawn  of  day  : 
When  first  the  timid  morn  peeps  o'er  the  hills 
And  faintly  streaks  with  gray  the  eastern  sky, 
Each  object  dimly  to  the  eye  appears, 
And  busy  Fancy  peoples  all  the  scene 
With  the  thin  offspring  of  her  airy  brain  • 
But  when  the  sun  appears  these  shapes  dissolve, 
As  unsubstantial  visions  of  a  dream  ; 
The  charms  of  nature  then  by  every  eye 
And  every  heart  are  witnessed  and  confessed, 
And  all  consent  to  worship  at  her  shrine. 
So,  when  bewitching  Beauty  draws  aside 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  69 

The  envious  veil  that  hides  her  charms  from  view, 

Each  eye  is  ravished  and  each  heart  enthralled, 

And  all  attest  the  magic  of  her  power. 

Beneath  the  light  of  reason  thus  mankind 

Behold  the  veil  from  Nature's  face  upraised, 

And  woo  her  through  the  arts  and  sciences. 

She  is  a  coy  and  jealous  mistress  though, 

And  will  not  to  a  fickle  lover  yield 

Her  priceless  favors.     To  be  fairly  won, 

She  must,  indeed,  be  wooed  devotedly  : 

And  her  attendants  in  her  graces  grow, 

As  do  her  works,  by  slow  and  gradual  steps. 

How  many  tedious  years  Urania  watched 

The  constellations  in  their  annual  course, 

The  bear  prowl  nightly  round  the  Arctic  pole, 

The  vagrant  planets  in  their  mystic  rounds, 

A  wondrous  maze  perplexed,  before  she  learnt 

The  deep  intricacies  of  all  their  paths, 

And  how  the  giant  Gravitation  held 

And  swung  them  round  and  round  in  magic  chain. 

Apollo's  arts,  song,  music,  medicine, 

Are,  like  the  human  race  itself,  the  growth 

Of  centuries  unnumbered  and  unknown. 

Built  up  by  the  united  care  and  toil 

Of  many  generations  past  and  gone, 


70  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Each  is  the  labor  of  a  life  to  learn— 

Imperfect  even  then  our  knowledge  is — 

And  thus  of  all  of  nature's  mysteries. 

Strength,  knowledge,  all  things  grow  but  by  degrees. 

Crotona's  hardy  athlete,  it  is  said, 

Taught  his  broad  shoulders  to  support  the  load 

And  grow  in  power  as  their  burden  grew, 

'Till  able  to  bear  up  the  full-grown  ox  : 

And  England's  sage,  the  light  of  modern  times, 

"When  knowledge  more  than  strength  commands 

respect, 

Learned  how  to  weigh  the  sun  and  moon  and  stars, 
And  how  each  ponderous  globe  retains  its  orb, 
By  meditating  on  an  apple's  fall. 

Though  clad  in  homespun  suit  and  unadorned, 
Rich  gifts  innumerable  labor  brings. 
When  rightly  known,  both  fair  and  bountiful 
She  proves,  and  fills  the  genial  cup  of  life 
With  wholesome  draughts  fresh  from  the  fountain- 
head 

Of  health  and  strength  alike  for  mind  and  frame. 
The  panacea — cure  for  every  ail — 
And  best  of  tonics  hers  ;  it  nerves  the  heart 
To  triumph  o'er  Adversity's  dread  frowns, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  71 

To  Folly's  eyes  in  Gorgon  terrors  clad. 
Stern  teacher  of  philosophy  !  thy  rod 
Severe  is  not  alone  for  torture  given, 
But  more  to  turn  to  truth  the  erring  mind, 
And  train  aright  the  budding  germs  of  thought. 
Offspring  of  Want,  prolific  Labor  hail ! 
Stern  though  thy  parentage  and  rough  thy  looks, 
Thy  rule  yet  wholesome  and  thy  deeds  benign. 
Prosperity  and  progress  at  thy  beck 
Obedient  wait ;  Learning  at  thy  command, 
Science  and  skill,  build  up  their  monuments. 
For  thce  glad  Amalthea  fills  her  horn, 
Capacious,  with  the  season's  kindly  fruits, 
And  earth  its  tribute  sends  from  farthest  shores  ; 
By  thee  the  fettered  soul  is  freed  from  chains 
And  learns  to  walk  in  manly  dignity, 
Alike  absolved  from  dread  and  arrogance  • 
In  brief,  the  medium  thou  by  which  the  hand 
Of  Nature  yields  her  choicest  gifts  to  man. 
Thee  let  us  worship  with  befitting  rites  ; 
Thee  diligently  learn  to  serve  and  lore ! 
Think  not  'tis  hard  to  toil,  for  what  is  life  ? 
To  doze  away  the  time  and  live  upon 
Another's  labor  ? — this  is  not  to  live — 
'Tis  but  to  linger  out  a  living  death  : 


72  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

'Twere  better  to  lie  sleeping  in  tlie  grave. 

The  laborer  is  far  less  wronged  than  he 

Who,  of  his  choice,  takes  life  upon  such  terms. " 

The  likeness  of  his  Maker  then  is  gone  ; 

For  God  knows  neither  leisure  nor  repose, 

But  in  activity  alone  exists  : 

And  men  are  nobler  as  they  more  approach 

To  Him  in  steady,  useful  industry. 

He  favors  those  alone  who  earn  His  smiles 

By  walking  in  the  way  that  He  commands. 

Idling  and  trifling,  in  His  penal  code, 

Stand  but  a  grade  below  the  greatest  crimes  : 

He  kills  himself  who  sacrifices  time. 

So  strong  the  need  of  something  still  to  do, 

That  Satan  finds  his  opportunity, 

'Tis  aptly  said,  in  times  of  idleness, 

To  scatter  in  the  soul  those  deadly  seeds 

That  choke  and  canker  every  wholesome  growth. 

The  worthiest  efforts  man  can  make  are  those 
That  serve  to  give  expansion  to  the  mind, 
And  teach  it  how  to  soar  aloft,  above 
The  abject  cares  of  earth,  and  wing  its  flight 
To  noblest  heights  of  true  philosophy  : 
For  Knowledge  freedom  gives  and  fortitude 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  73 

To  the  immortal,  better  part  of  man  ; 
And  bids  him  not  to  tremble  in  the  dark 
At  ghosts,  or  other  visionary  fears, 
The  weaklings  of  a  childish  fantasy  ; 
Nor  bow  in  superstitious  reverence 
To  doctrines  opposite  to  nature's  laws  ; 
Nor  dote  on  dreams  and  rambling  prophecies 
That  stuff  the  hidden  future  with  the  dark 
And  sickly  fancies  of  a  moody  brain, 
That  serve  alone  to  taint  the  cup  of  life 
With  bitterness,  and  banish  every  joy  ; 
But  teaches  him  such  bugbears  to  despise, 
And  walk  serene  in  reason's  steady  light, 
The  last  and  noblest  gift  of  Heaven  to  earth  : 
And  like  the  sun  its  bright  and  cheerful  rays 
Disperse  to  airy  nothingness  the  fogs 
Of  darkness,  ignorance  and  prejudice 
That  settle  in  the  hollows  of  the  mind, 
And  there  are  garnered  up  as  solid  truths, 
Or  sanctified  as  articles  of  faith. 
Nature  and  faith  should  ever  be  conjoined. 
Religion  from  all  guile  and  artifice 
Should  be  absolved,  and  as  a  science  taught ; 
One  introductory  to  all  the  rest, 
To  which  it  should  lend  aid  and  pave  the  way, 
1 


74  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

And  be,  in  fact,  their  central  source  of  light, 

As  is  the  sun  to  its  attendant  orbs. 

It,  then,  instead  of  chaining  down  the  mind, 

And  proving  nothing  but  a  stumbling  block, 

Would  aid  essentially  to  lift  it  up  ; 

And  in  return  for  Faith's  consoling  balm, 

Science  would  clothe  her  in  a  lucid  garb  ; 

And  each,  as  Eros  and  the  longing  soul, 

Find  joy  and  solace  in  their  harmony. 

As  Science,  Faith  must  meliorate  and  grow 

By  slow  degrees  ;  in  fact,  she  never  can 

Her  utter  boundary  or  goal  attain. 

As  long  as  mind  expands  and  knowledge  spreads, 

Brighter  and  brighter  shine  her  heaven-born  beams. 

'Tis,  therefore,  vain  to  think  to  bind  the  soul 

In  everlasting  fetters  ;  or  enchain 

Enlightened  times  in  gross  and  clumsy  bonds, 

Forged  in  an  age  of  darkness,  when  men  sought 

The  truths  of  nature  and  for  things  to  come, 

In  visions,  witchcraft,  sorcery  and  dreams  : 

And  fancy  painted  every  natural  ill, 

As  work  officious  of  an  adverse  fiend 

That  scowled  malignantly  in  Heaven's  face, 

And  thwarted  its  beneficent  designs. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  75 

As  those  remains  of  ancient  times,  entombed 
Within  that  wide  extended  charnel-house — 
The  rock-encrusted  surface  of  the  earth, 
Proclaim  the  progress  of  organic  life, 
So  the  forsaken  offshoots  of  the  "brain 
That  once  were  bowed  to  as  authentic  creeds, 
But  now  like  mummies  lie  embalmed  and  stored 
Within  the  crypts  of  ancient  history, 
Tell  the  expansion  of  the  human  mind. 
Its  dawning  age  engendered  products  crude, 
Unsolid  fancies  and  vague,  futile  fears  ; 
The  firstlings  of  an  unsubstantial  world, 
Its  feeble  offspring  rudimentary. 
Then  clumsy  shapes  came  crawling  forth,  uncouth 
As  reptiles  of  the  ancient  saurian  age  ; 
The  worship  barbarous  of  cruel  gods, — 
Moloch,  appeased  with  sacrificial  gore, 
And  children  given  to  the  flames,  and  soothed 
With  senseless  clamor  and  unmeaning  rites  ; 
And  Dagon,  monster  of  the  sea,  half  man, 
Half  fish.     These  were  creations  of  the  mind 
In  its  amphibious,  half-way  stage  of  growth  ; 
The  forms  of  darkness  and  obscurity 
That  superstition  loves  to  idolize. 
An  epoch  tertiary  was  ushered  in, 


76  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

"When  first  the  powers  of  nature  were  beheld 
And  worshiped  under  mythic  semblances, 
As  Jove,  Apollo,  Bacchus  and  the  host 
Of  gods  and  goddesses  both  good  and  bad, 
Immortalized  by  many  a  classic  pen, 
In  days  when  fancy  more  than  fact  prevailed 
To  lead  the  footsteps  of  the  wandering  mind. 
A  timid  friendship  then  began  to  form 
Between  the  kindred  pair,  Science  and  Faith. 
When  both,  in  all  essential  circumstance, 
Agree  with  facts  and  sound  philosophy, 
The  age  of  ripened  intellect  appears. 
As  types  of  all  the  former  forms  of  life 
In  the  domains  of  nature  yet  are  found, 
So  still  among  mankind  at  large  are  seen 
Some  types  of  all  the  former  forms  of  faith. 
The  stragglers  these  that  linger  in  the  rear  : 
Meanwhile  the  army  on  the  march  proceeds. 

The  faith,  however  crude  and  imbecile^ 
Implanted  in  the  tender  infant  breast, 
Takes  root  and  twines  around  the  growing  heart 
With  all  the  energy  of  primal  love. 
As  to  her  first-born  cleaves  the  mother  fond, 
Or  wife  or  maiden  to  her  early  choice, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  77 

So  cling  we  to  first  faith,  and  part  with  it, 

In  after  life,  when  Reason  with  strong  hand 

Pulls  at  these  tendrils  twining  round  the  heart, 

Alone  to  force  that  cannot  be  denied. 

This  is  experienced  in  a  thousand  ways, 

As  every  one  who  reads  himself  must  know  ; 

And  as  it  is  in  individuals  seen, 

So  is  it  in  the  many-headed  world  ; 

The  superstitions  of  its  infancy 

Yield  slowly  to  the  growing  force  of  truth. 

Before  it  subjugate  the  hydra  mass 

Obtuse,  conceited,  fickle,  obstinate, 

Unnumbered  generations  darkling  sweep,  . 

Along  the  rushing  stream  of  time  away, 

Into  the  ocean  of  eternity. 

But  constant  dropping  wears  upon  a  stone  j 

So  truth  at  length  shall  wear  on  prejudice, 

And  superstition  haunt  the  mind  no  more. 

Supreme  in  all  shall  Heaven's  laws  appear  ; 

And  union  absolute  of  cause  and  plan 

Be  seen  throughout,  and  in  the  sum  of  all 

A  perfect  concord  and  harmonious  scheme, 

Each  part  subservient  to  the  grand  design. 

Faith  is  akin  to  Science,  nnd  like  her 

Should  lean  on  Nature  for  support  and  aid  ; 


78  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

She  wanders  else  amid  the  scenes  of  life, 
The  easy  dupe  of  folly  and  of  fraud. 

In  Nature  all  is  love  and  harmony. 
Securely  is  she  seated  on  her  throne, 
Beneath  the  asgis  of  Omnipotence. 
No  hostile  powers  need  she  fear  ;  of  such 
The  tales  are  merely  figments  of  the  brain. 
Although  her  brow  not  always  seems  serene, 
Her  frowns  are  yet  as  loving  as  her  smiles, 
And  meant  but  to  enforce  her  wholesome  laws. 
"With  chastening  hand  maternal  first  she  warns 
Her  erring  children  to  retrace  their  steps  ; 
But  if,  of  stubborn  heart,  they  will  not  heed, 
She  stern  becomes  and  punishment,  severe 
Perhaps,  though  just,  inflicts  :  for  all  her  acts 
Are  in  the  scales  of  Justice  nicely  weighed  ; 
And  every  penalty  is  meted  out 
In  perfect  adaptation  to  the  wrong. 
A  dispensation  wise  and  good  is  this. 
Disorder  to  restrain  ere  spread  too  far. 
The  scourge  removed  from  Nature's  hand  benign, 
The  terrors  of  her  penal  laws  annulled, 
Order  would  be  dethroned,  Confusion  reign, 
•\nd  all  the  world  to  ruin  madly  rush. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  79 

Full  widely,  even  now,  from  her  commands 
Has  man  seceded  ;  him  exonerate 
From  all  effects  of  such  decadency, 
And  his  depravity  would  know  no  bounds. 

Though  Pity,  maiden  of  the  dewy  eye, 
May  look  with  grief  upon  the  countless  woes 
Produced  by  nature's  violated  laws, 
And  deem  them  necessary  ills  of  life 
And  all  the  world  but  as  a  vale  of  tears, 
By  Keason's  truer  eyes  these  things  are  seen 
But  as  exceptions  to  the  general  rule 
And  mere  conducements  to  the  greatest  good. 
The  sum  of  all  things  is  the  throne  of  bliss 
On  which  reclines  the  Universal  Soul, 
The  focus  of  all  sense  and  happiness. 

As  poisons  sometimes  serve  as  condiments, 
So  is  it  with  the  evil  in  the  world  : 
To  make  the  good  seem  good  it  must  exist. 
Without  it  all  would  vapid  be,  and  flat 
As  to  the  palate  tastes  unseasoned  food. 
In  due  proportion  'tis  a  spice  in  life, 
Though  in  excess  it  taints  with  bitterness. 
Antagonistic  elements  exist, 


80  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Of  course,  in  every  place  and  circumstance  : 

But  in  subjection  and  control  are  held 

By  power  Omniscient,  that  evolves  from  all 

Progressive  happiness  and  harmony. 

Hence  day  and  night  alternate,  light  and  shade, 

The  summer's  bounties  and  the  winter's  frosts, 

And  all  the  charms  that  change  and  contrast  bring. 

The  ills  of  life  that  stand  as  finger-posts 

To  point  the  way  upon  the  road,  serve  well 

Their  purposes  parental,  and  are  made 

To  swell  the  aggregate  of  general  good. 

Society  advances  mid  the  clash 

Of  jarring  interests  and  mutual  strife. 

'Twas  never  meant  by  Him  who  first  devised 

The  social  state,  to  level  all  mankind 

Upon  the  rules  of  fancied  equity, 

And  keep  them  there  in  spite  of  e'en  themselves. 

Such  perfect  level  may  alone  be  seen 

In  realms  Utopian,  fanciful  and  false. 

Reduced  to  fact,  its  fruits  would  soon  appear 

In  sloth  and  wide-spread  imbecility. 

It  is  ordained  that  every  kind  of  life 

Shall  be  matured  in  strife  and  rivalship, 

Wherein  the  stronger  shall  prevail,  and  leave 

Its  kind  as  the  preferred  inheritors. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  81 

This  law  both  plants  and  animals  obey. 
Each  striving  thus  to  overtop  the  rest, 
The  race  itself  improves  from  age  to  age, 
And  thus  the  rugged  hill  of  life  is  climbed. 
Full  difficult  to  all  the  upward  road, 
Tasking  the  scope  of  every  faculty  ; 
But  easy  the  decline,  where  indolence 
With  languid,  half-closed  eyes,  prefers  to  stay. 

Scholars  of  Nature,  we  must  keep  her  rules  ; 
And  epidemics  and  diseases  all, 
And  every  evil  that  her  laws  inflict, 
Are  her  avenging  monitors,  that  whip 
Laggards  and  truants  to  their  tasks  again, 
Whene'er  they  wantonly  or  idly  roam  ; 
And  if  they  neither  will  nor  can  reform, 
In  terror  to  the  rest,  they  are  expelled ; 
The  final  doom— a  warning  dread  to  all — 
At  which  the  awe-struck  soul  recoils  aghast ; 
For  though  to  those  indocile  or  perverse 
The  teacher's  rules  may  seem  austere  and  hard, 
Still  many  blandishments  around  she  strews 
That  bind  us  to  her  with  the  closest  ties. 
To  sever  them  and  quit  her  bright  domains, 
To  be  consigned  to  dark  forcretfulness 


82  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Within  the  dark  and  solitary  grave, 
The  banished  spirit  gone  we  know  not  where, 
Ne'er  to  return  and  greet  its  comrades  more, 
The  thought  repugnant,  o'er  the  shuddering  sense, 
Creeps  like  the  chilly  vapors  of  a  tomb, 
With  ghastly  terrors  fraught :  unearthly  shapes 
That  mock  the  understanding  and  the  sight, 
And  thrill  the  fearful  soul  with  vague  alarms. 
Foremost  among  the  phantom  train  appears 
The  insatiate  King,  a  spectre  gaunt  and  grim, 
Before  whose  upraised  dart  the  spirit  quails, 
The  roses  wither  on  the  stalk  of  life, 
Courage  himself  instinctively  grows  pale, 
And  turns  evasive  from  the  threatened  stroke. 
Nor  less  appalling  are  the  shadowy  forms 
Believed  to  follow  in  the  distant  rear  ; 
Legions  of  mocking  fiends,  tormenting  flames 
That  bear  and  endless  means  of  pain  :  Remorse, 
The  worm  that  never  dies,  the  last  of  all. 
Such  fearful  things  alone  within  the  brain 
Of  morbid  Fancy  dwell ;  to  these  she  gives 
"  A  local  habitation  and  a  name  " 
In  visionary  realms  beyond  the  grave. 
The  truly  wise  such  terrors  hardly  need  ; 
For,  keeping  all  the  teacher's  wholesome  laws, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  83 

And  walking  only  in  the  proper  paths, 

They  learn  to  find  a  heaven  here  below, 

And  see  no  cause  to  fear  a  future  hell. 

These  laws  arc  various  that  we  have  to  keep, 

As  social,  physical  and  moral  laws. 

The  latter  two  invaded,  swiftly  comes 

A  retribution  on  the  guilty  head  ; 

But  social  laws  are  slow  in  their  recoil ; 

For  like  the  giant  oak,  societies 

And  nations  are  of  ages  long  the  growth, 

And  being  slow  of  growth,  arc  slow  of  change. 

I  speak  not  here  of  civil  social  laws, 

Or  those  dependent  on  the  will  of  man, 

That  may  be  good  or  bad,  foolish  or  wise, 

Or  ever  changing  as  their  makers  arc  ; 

But  those  of  Nature,  endless  as  herself. 

They  may  be  outraged  for  a  while,  perhaps, 

Aye,  e'en  for  ages  may  some  brooding  ill 

Engender  in  the  bowels  of  a  State, 

And  grow  to  be  a  part  of  it,  until 

It  shakes  the  commonwealth  to  pluck  it  out, 

Almost  to  its  surcease,  or  kills  outright. 

The  times  are  pregnant  often  with  the  wrongs 

Of  centuries  ;  and  when  the  bearing-time 

Comes  round,  prodigious  births  are  ushered  forth  : 


84  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Discord,  intestine  feuds  and  civil  war 
Then  show  their  hateful  and  portentous  fronts, 
Crime  stalks  abroad  fearless  of  punishment, 
And  men  appear  to  be  transformed  to  fiends. 
Such  times  were  seen  in  Rome  before  her  fall ; 
And  France  beheld  them  in  her  days  of  blood  ; 
And  soon  or  late  to  all  the  day  must  come, 
The  day  of  reckoning  for  deeds  of  guilt 
Done  in  the  noon  and  flush  of  health,  perhaps, 
And  when  they  fondly  thought  themselves  secure, 
And  never  to  be  called  to  an  account. 
Do  we  not  see  a  hand  upon  the  wall, 
A  hand  of  warning  if  not  one  of  doom, 
Appear  in  the  late  troubles  we  have  passed  ? 
Blind  must  we  be  indeed  to  see  it  not : 
For  plain  it  is  as  that  which  filled  with  fear 
The  Babylonian  king  and  all  his  court, 
And  told — alas !  it  told  to  them  too  late — 
That  Heaven's  vengeance  will  not  ever  sleep. 
To  us  the  hand  more  timely  warning  brings, 
If  we  but  heed  the  lesson  that  it  sets, 
And  turn  repentant  from  the  wickedness 
That  brought  these  troubles  down  upon  the  laud  ; 
The  fruits  of  selfishness,  that  leads  mankind 
To  trample  down  the  rights  of  other  men, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  85 

And  grasp  at  things,  that  should  be  free  to  all, 

To  limit  them  to  their  peculiar  use. 

This  soul-contracting  vice  of  selfishness 

Its  culmination  finds  in  slavery, 

That  men  degrades  to  chattels  and  to  brutes  ; 

Making  their  lives  and  happiness  to  hang 

Upon  the  sufferance  of  the  wretch  who  buys 

Their  souls  and  bodies  with  his  filthy  dross  ; 

And  who  by  law  is  vested  with  the  power, 

As  oft  he  is  by  nature  with  the  will, 

To  grind  their  very  bones  to  make  his  bread. 

The  current  score  of  this,  our  national  crime, 

In  heaven's  record  has  run  on  so  long, 

That  in  atonement  all  are  made  to  groan  ; 

And  every  drop  of  blood  the  lash  has  drawn, 

Is  paid  with  interest  from  the  nation's  veins  ; 

And  all  the  guilt-stained  wealth  that  has  been  wrung 

From  the  poor  victims  of  its  tyranny, 

By  centuries  of  unrequited  toil, 

Is  wasted  in  war's  desolating  path. 

Though  all  these  woes  have  followed  in  its  train, 

This  heart-encrusting  sin  if  we  repent, 

And  learn  to  deal  impartially  by  all, 

Doing  injustice,  no,  not  to  the  least, 

Rather  uplifting  the  oppressed  and  poor, 


8G  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Then  time  shall  make  us  whole  again  and  sound, 
And  bring  us  forth  from  purgatorial  flames, 
Renewed  and  purified  from  every  stain, 
A  phoenix  newly  risen  from  the  pyre. 

To  all  contaminate  in  mind  or  frame, 
Fallen  from  right,  degenerate,  perverse, 
The  world  is  full  of  poisons,  scourges,  snares. 
To  them  the  bounties  of  the  universe 
Are  dealt  by  the  avenging  Nemesis, 
Who  on  the  heads  of  guilty  mortals  pours 
The  dreadful  vengeance  of  the  angry  gods, 
And  turns  their  gifts  to  dust  and  bitterness. 
On  such  the  air  breathes  pestilence  and  death  ; 
The  sun  pours  down  envenomed  darts  by  day, 
The  pallid  moon  and  stars  rain  blights  by  night. 
Their  senses  palled,  the  innocent  delights 
And  kindly  sweets  of  nature  charm  no  more. 
All  that  should  be  a  blessing  proves  a  curse  ; 
And  while  they  pine  beneath  the  weary  doom, 
They  little  dream  that  'tis  their  own  misdeeds 
They  suffer  from,  but  fondly  view  themselves 
As  sacrifices  of  the  Fates  unjust, 
Or  victims  of  a  cruel  destiny, 
And  claim  of  all  the  sympathetic  tear. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  87 

The  boon  is  granted,  or  it  should  be  so  ; 

For  'tis  an  act  of  charity  to  drop 

The  tear  of  pity  for  another's  woe  ; 

And  he  whose  selfish  heart  is  cased  within 

A  bosom  of  impenetrable  flint, 

Who  has  no  sighs  for  sorrows  not  his  own, 

Is  scarcely  half  a  man  at  best,  and  lost 

To  the  prime  crown  and  honors  of  his  kind. 

When  first  men  followed  instinct's  simple  ways, 
And  Saturn  held  his  mild,  primeval  reign, 
The  Golden  Age,  we're  told,  prevailed  on  earth — 
The  blissful  childhood  of  the  human  race. 
All  unsophisticated  lived  mankind  ; 
Content  and  health  were  theirs,  they  asked  no  more. 
The  bounteous  soil,  untasked,  its  harvests  gave  ; 
Sufficient  nature's  voluntary  gifts, 
Of  fruits  and  herbs  their  food,  their  drink  the  spring  ; 
Perpetual  summer  reigned,  and  Peace  and  Love 
Linked  all  creation  in  fraternal  bonds. 
This  happy  state,  by  him  who  led  the  Jews 
From  Egypt's  bondage  to  the  promised  land 
Of  Canaan,  for  its  milk  and  honey  famed, 
Was  Eden  called,  the  garden  of  the  Lord. 
As  yet  a  longing  after  unknown  things 


88  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LTFE. 

Had  not  unbarred  the  gates  of  mortal  woe. 
Pandora,  with  uneasy,  prying  eye, 
The  fatal  casket  had  not  then  explored, 
Nor  eaten  the  forbidden  fruit  had  Eve, 
In  violation  of  the  laws  of  God 
And  nature,  and  thus  introduced  the  seeds 
Of  death,  disease,  and  woe  into  the  world. 
For  thus  of  first  neglect  of  nature's  laws 
They  spoke  in  olden  time,  and  russet  Fact 
Was  tricked  by  Fancy  in  her  rainbow  gauds. 

Ere  Knowledge  grew,  or  the  inventive  Arts 
Enabled  naked  man  to  circumvent 
His  better  frunished  fellow-denizens 
Of  nature's  broad  domain,  and  triumph  o'er 
The  wide  vicissitudes  of  heat  and  cold, 
Of  season  and  of  clime,  he  must  have  lived 
In  some  such  state  as  that  above  described, 
Now  long  since  numbered  with  the  things  that  were. 
No  longer  now  his  faculties  are  cramped 
By  instinct's  narrow  bounds,  but  reason  leads 
The  wandering  footsteps  of  the  mind  in  paths 
That  ever  widen  as  they  go,  and  tempt, 
With  frequent  scenes  of  beauty  and  delight, 
The  traveller  fresh  regions  to  explore. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LTFE.  89 

At  first  with  doubtful  steps  and  slow  he  treads  ; 

But  as  the  prospect  opens,  faster  wends. 

On  every  side  some  new  enchantment  breaks 

On  his  astonished  gaze,  and  soon  he  finds, 

Among  the  fruitful  regions  he  explores, 

Gardens  as  bright  as  those  of  Paradise. 

But  only  those  this  happiness  can  know 

Who  rightly  use  the  faculty  divine  ; 

For  who  their  lives  resign  to  sensual  joys, 

Or  sloth,  can  ne'er  retrieve  their  fallen  state. 

Who  fain  would  nobly  climb  must  active  be, 

And  should  themselves  in  the  Gymnasia  train 

Of  exercise  and  study,  as  of  old 

Was  taught  in  Academia's  classic  groves, 

Where  Nature  and  the  Muses,  hand  in  hand, 

Were  wont  to  walk  when  Greece  was  in  her  prime  ; 

And  where,  with  honeyed  lips,  the  Attic  bee* 

More  sweetness  gathered  from  philosophy 

Than  e'er  was  hived  on  Hybla's  flowery  mount. 

Perhaps  the  point  on  which  mankind  depart 
The  most  from  nature's  wholesome  laws,  is  food  ; 
For  appetite  is  often  made  the  slave 
Of  pleasure  merely,  heedless  of  the  aim 

*  Plato. 


HO  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

The  true  intent  for  which  it  was  ordained. 
What  countless  evils  on  this  error  wait ! 
What  grim  and  spectral  shapes  of  woe  attend ! 
Disease  in  all  its  countless,  hideous  forms, 
The  organs  and  the  senses  paralyzed 
And  profitless,  old  age  before  its  time, 
A  worn-out  body  and  a  worn-out  mind, 
Are  but  a  portion  of  the  ghastly  train 
That  follow  acts  of  sensual  excess, 
And  give  to  all  example  terrible. 
"  We  should  not  live  to  eat,  but  eat  to  live," 
And  in  indulgences  of  every  kind 
Yield  to  the  claims  of  appetite  no  more 
Than  may  to  beneficial  ends  conduce. 

Reason  and  old  tradition  both  agree 
That  at  the  first  men  lived  on  fruits  alone 
For  food,  and  drank  of  the  health-giving  spring. 
No  taint  of  gore  their  nourishment  defiled, 
No  liquid  fire  consumed  and  crazed  the  brain, 
Nor  turned  to  gall  the  sweet  assuasive  chyle, 
Nor  the  calm  current  of  the  refluent  blood 
Provoked  to  undue  haste  and  heat,  nor  strung 
The  nerves  to  deeds  of  tyranny  and  hate. 
Mild  and  congenial  was  their  aliment, 


FOOTPRINTS  0V  LIFE.  9] 

And  mild  and  peaceful  every  thought  and  act. 
The  sunny  gardens  of  the  balmy  zone 
Wherein  they  dwelt  demanded  small  supply 
Of  nutriment  that  serves  to  warm  the  blood, 
Compared  to  what  they  covet  who  oppose 
The  rude  assaults  of  those  unfriendly  skies 
"Where  Boreas  reigns  and  faintly  shines  the  sun  ; 
For  every  clime  demands  its  proper  food. 
The  cooling  regimen  of  fruits  and  herbs, 
That  ample  is  for  all  the  wants  of  life 
Of  Ethiopia's  sons,  or  those  who  breathe 
The  hot  and  steamy  atmosphere  that  still 
With  constant  course  pursues  the  orb  of  day 
Around  its  equinoctial  path,  would  scarce 
Supply  the  elements  of  vital  heat 
That  needful  are  to  those  who  breathe  the  air 
Of  Greenland  cliill,  or  frozen  Labrador. 
Indulgent  nature  has  enriched  each  clime 
With  aliment  there  suited  best  to  man. 
Of  pliant  system  and  inventive  mind, 
He,  lord  of  all,  and  nature's  favorite  child, 
Has  all  the  world  for  his  inheritance. 
For  him  the  torrid  sun  whose  ardent  rays 
The  sanguine  stream  would  raise  to  fever  heat, 
If  nourished  from  those  sources  that  supply 


92  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

The  elements  of  warmth  to  frigid  veins — 

The  wine-cup  and  the  fatlings  of  the  flocks — 

And  cause  the  lamp  of  life  to  burn  too  fast, 

Gives  cooling  fruits  instead,  the  heat  to  soothe. 

Its  beams  oblique,  that  shed  a  tempered  warmth, 

To  Ceres  and  Pomona  both  conduce, 

And  best  promote  the  herdsman's  peaceful  charge  ; 

These  furnish  man  with  food  adapted  best 

To  regions  lying  in  the  temperate  zones. 

When  near  the  polar  regions  we  approach, 

Where  earth  but  scanty  vegetation  yields, 

And  solar  rays  are  absent  half  the  year, 

We  find  the  ocean  full  of  unctuous  food 

That  heat  abundant  to  his  system  gives. 

Wise  were  it  always  to  observe  these  hints, 

And  not  alone  their  teaching  to  confine 

To  what  refers  to  climate,  but  extend 

The  doctrine  further,  and  to  season  too 

Apply  what  thus  the  voice  of  nature  prompts. 

When  summer  with  its  genial  warmth  prevails, 

Diffusing  balm  and  joy  through  every  nerve, 

And  all  the  heavenly  powers,  propitious,  smile, 

Nor  ask  the  sanguinary  sacrifice, 

Then  would  the  festal  board  be  aptly  spread 

With  food  of  grain  prepared  and  fruits  and  milk, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  93 

Addition  of  more  generous  fare  being  made 

When  skies  grow  bleak  or  languishes  the  sun  ; 

But  when  with  icy  breath  stern  Winter  comes, 

Enchanter  dread,  who  would  to  stone  transmute 

All  life  and  motion  that  he  breathes  upon, 

Then  let  the  sacrificial  altar  smoke 

With  incense  grateful  of  the  savory  fare 

Diana,  or  more  bounteous  Pales  gives — 

The  products  of  the  pasture  or  the  chase — 

And  countcrcharm  the  freezing  blasts  without 

By  giving  fuel  to  the  fires  within. 

Thus  may  we  learn  to  temper  either  ills  ; 

Or  those  that  spring  from  undue  heat,  or  those 

Pernicious  equally  that  cold  inflicts  ; 

Thus  mitigate  the  seasons'  fierce  extremes, 

And  triumph  o'er  the  rigor  of  each  clime. 

Man  is  not  doomed  to  necessary  woe. 

From  every  ill  attendant  on  his  race 

Some  means  evasive  he  will  surely  find, 

If  Nature  he  but  studies  and  obeys. 

No  rules  sophistical  should  he  adopt 

To  innovate  on  her  more  genial  sway. 

His  steadfast  eye  should  ever  turn  to  her 

As  to  its  lord  the  constant  heliotrope. 

When  doubts  as  to  his  proper  path  perplex 


04  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

The  wildered  traveler  o'er  life's  bleak  moor, 

And  night  involves  him  in  its  deepest  gloom, 

A  loadstar  then  she  proves  his  course  to  guide, 

A  cynosure  of  never-failing  truth. 

The  thought  that  Nature  shared  in  that  decline 

When  man,  departing  from  her  simple  ways 

And  following  those  of  luxury  and  art, 

Became  a  prey  to  sickness  and  to  care, 

Can  find  in  weak  or  biased  minds  alone 

A  home  ;  and  such  it  leads  to  follow  lights 

That  take  them  round  about  in  chase  forlorn, 

Like  fires  phosphoric  that  'tis  said  misguide 

Benighted  wanderers  in  the  dreary  marsh. 

When  God's  right  hand  shall  fail,  then  Nature  may, 

But  not  before,  for  she  and  it  are  one. 

She  'tis  that  shows  His  wisdom  and  His  power, 

And  she  alone  His  grand  designs  unfolds. 

How  easily  supplied  are  all  the  claims 

That  Nature  urges  in  the  frame  of  man ! 

As  unpolluted  from  her  hands  they  come, 

How  sweet  and  healthful  are  the  copious  stores 

In  air,  stream,  forest,  and  in  field,  from  which 

To  every  need  they  may  be  gratified ! 

But  ah !  what  fatal  poisons  they  prepare, 

Noxious  at  once  to  body  and  to  soul. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  95 

With  what  accumulated  ills  oppress 

Their  languid  frames  who  crowd  the  city's  haunts 

Where  Dissipation,  Vice  and  Folly  oft 

Their  orgies  hold  !     What  evils  do  they  sow, 

Which  in  the  future  they  shall  surely  reap, 

Who  heap  the  board  with  luxury  profuse, 

And  in  the  madding  riot  of  a  day 

Consume,  perhaps,  the  labor  of  a  year ! 

Who  ransack  every  corner  of  the  earth 

To  minister  to  appetites  depraved, 

And  goad  the  senses  to  the  utmost  verge, 

Where  pleasure,  sickened,  almost  turns  to  pain ! 

Profane !  'tis  right  that  yc  should  feel  the  sting, 

Who,  reckless,  Nature's  safer  ways  forsake, 

And   seek   the   paths   where   toads   and   adders 

lurk ! 

Ye  pallid  worshipers  at  Fashion's  shrine, 
Whom  Indigestion  and  Enmd  pursue 
Around,  like  Furies  armed  with  scorpion  whips, 
Repent  in  time,  turn  ere  it  be  too  late ! 
Your  superflux  to  those  in  need  resign, 
And  taste  the  luxury  refined  and  true, 
That  only  they,  thrice  happy,  can  enjoy, 
Who  live  within  the  simple,  genial  bounds 
Of  Nature,  and  with  wise  economy 


96  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.. 

Her  temperate,  frugal  wants  supply,  no  more  ; 
Her  rites  administer  with  hearts  sincere. 

Hail,  heavenly  guide,  divine  inspircr,  hail, 
Nature,  kind  guardian  of  the  general  fold, 
And  mediator  between  God  and  man ! 
Oh,  ever  by  my  side  remain,  and  teach 
My  feet  to  tread  the  labyrinthine  paths 
Of  life,  and  all  its  dangers  how  to  shun  1 
Whom  leadest  thou,  he,  happiest  of  men, 
Shall  pass  serenely  down  the  vale  of  time. 
When  Fate  portentous  rides  upon  the  gale, 
And  Pestilence,  swift  borne  upon  the  wings 
Of  the  infectious  South,  or  blighting  East, 
Strews  thickly  death  and  dread  around  the  land  ; 
Or  skies  adverse  to  Ceres'  golden  reign 
Peril  the  budding  promise  of  the  year  ; 
Or  when  the  poisonous  Hydra  of  the  fens 
And  stagnant  pools  mysteriously  steals  forth 
To  wrap  the  shuddering  victim  in  its  folds  : 
Pregnant  with  doom,  whatever  bane  impends, 
Thou  teachest  to  avert  the  threatened  ill. 
With  thee  auspicious,  there  is  naught  to  fear  : 
Not  fickle  Fortune  can  our  peace  invade, 
Nor  Envy  lean,  nor  self-consuming  Care. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  97 

Nor  all  the  powers  of  hell  itself,  can  harm. 

Bnt  from  thy  frowns,  ah  !  whither  can  we  fly  ? 

Dark,  desolate,  and  void  is  all  around. 

The  weary  Hours  then  droop  their  heads  and  sigh  ; 

Nor  Loves  nor  Graces  with  their  wonted  smiles, 

Nor  Pleasure  with  her  frolic  train,  can  charm. 


Then  sh.ill  the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was:  and  the  spirit  shall 
return  to  God  who  gave  it. — J&clesiasles  xii.  7. 


Principio  ccclum.  nc  terras,  camposque  liquentes, 
Lucentumque  globmn  luntc,  titaniaquc  astra, 
Spiritus  iritus  alit,  totamque  infuna  per  artus, 
Mens  agitat  niolem,  etmagno  so  corpore  miscit: 
Inde  homiiium,  peeudumque  genus,  vitsequc  volantnra, 
Et  qua:  marmorcio  fert  monstra  sub  ajquore  pontuu. 

Virgil.  sE/>..  Lib.  vi. 


The  circling  sky,  the  earth  and  liquid  main, 
The  silver  moon,  and  stars,  a  shining  train, 
Through  all  these  limbs  diffused,  one  guardian  soul 
The  body  moves  and  mingles,  with  the  whole  : 
Thence  spring  mankind,  and  beasts,  and  things  of  air, 
And  monsters  that  the  glassy  waters  bear. 


Hail  Source  of  Being  !  Universal  Soul 
Of  heaven  and  earth  !  Essential  Presence,  hail  ! 
To  Thee  I  bend  the  knee  ;  to  Thee  my  thoughts 
Continual  climb  ;  who  with  a  master  hand 
Uast  the  great  whole  into  perfection  touched. 

THOMSON, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  ioi 


gavt  <Thwt. — THE  DEITY. 

RETROSPECT  —  T1IE  LOVE  OF  GOD  —  HIS  WORSHIP  —  PRAYER. 
— FORMS    OF    FAITH  —  UNIVERSAL   PRATER  —  CONCLUSION. 

As,  when  the  vital  spark  has  taken  flight, 
And  dust  is  rendered  back  again  to  dust, 
The  soul  immortal,  bright  efflux  divine, 
The  Fountain  whence  it  emanates  rejoins, 
O'er  deatli  triumphant,  even  so  my  song, 
Now  having  traveled  o'er  the  things  of  life, 
Would  soar  above  them  and  commune  with  God, 
Him.  make  the  lofty  subject  of  the  verse. 

0  heavenly  Guide  and  Prompter  of  mankind, 
That  whisperest  to  the  soul  of  things  unseen, 
Come,  point  the  way,  for  here,  alas  !  I  tread 
On  questionable  ground,  'mid  many  doubts, 
Where  controversy  endless  stuns  the  sense, 
And  scarcely  two,  of  all  the  men  I  meet, 
Direct  my  anxious,  wandering  steps  alike. 
Amid  such  conflict,  faith,  bewildered,  strays  ; 
I  therefore  turn  to  Thee,  0  Guide  divine, 
Thee  rather  seek  as  in  Thy  works  revealed  ! 


102  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

The  heavens,  the  earth,  and  things  of  life  reviewed, 
Inevitably  leads  the  mind  to  God. 
The  heavens  proclaim  infinity  of  space, 
Earth  tells  of  the  immensity  of  time  ; 
In  life  we  see  intelligence  displayed, 
In  all  the  symbols  of  His  attributes 
Who  is  Eternal,  Boundless,  Wise  and  Good. 
"Who  was,  and  is,  and  e'er  shall  be  the  same. 

But  ere  I  pass  to  this  exalted  theme, 
Here  let  me  pause  and,  with  reverted  eye, 
Briefly  survey  the  path  already  passed  : 
Infer  from  facts,  there  seen,  their  ruling  laws, 
And  view  on  these,  as  on  a  lucid  screen, 
The  awful  shade  of  Him  who  sits  behind, 
Enthroned  in  sempiternal  majesty. 

The  threefold  and  mysterious  thread  of  life, 
That  complicated  tie  and  Gordiau  knot 
Whose  hidden  ends  can  never  be  revealed 
To  the  gross  sense  of  the  material  eye, 
And  only  dimly  to  the  eye  of  faith ; 
That  may  be  severed  by  the  ruthless  sword, 
Alas  !  too  easily  ;  and  severed  once, 
No  alchemy  can  ere  unite  again ; 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  103 

The  tie  that  binds  the  body's  cumbrous  clay 

To  the  ethereal  essence  from  above, 

With  venturous  hand  I've  sought  to  explicate  ; 

Though  hard  the  task,  and  many  heretofore 

Have  failed  therein,  or  satisfied  but  few. 

This  triple  bond  of  life  thus  do  I  trace  : 

First  matter  organized — the  earth-born  part — 

Eternal  in  its  elements,  although 

In  compound  subject  to  unceasing  change  ; 

For  out  of  nothing,  nothing  can  be  made. 

Then  animation,  or  the  function  wrought 

By  vital  structure  in  activity, 

Excited  by  a  class  of  agencies 

That  occupy  a  sort  of  middle  ground, 

Between  the  heavens  above  and  earth  beneath — 

Material  tilings  and  essence  spiritual — 

As  heat  and  light  and  electricity. 

Highest  and  last  comes  mind,  the  type  of  God; 

To  which  alone  man  owes  his  excellence 

And  station  high  among  the  things  of  earth. 

The  trinity  of  nature  here  we  see 

And  incarnation  of  Divinity. 

"When  death  untwines  this  vital  bond  triune, 

The  finer  elements  expand  their  wings, 

And  rise  to  mingle  with  their  parent  source, 


104  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

The  grosser  ones  relapse  to  earth,  to  theirs  ; 

All  seek  the  origin  from  which  they  sprang. 

Thus  is  the  mystery  of  life  and  death 

Solved  and  elucidated  by  the  light 

Of  Nature  in  her  works  made  manifest : 

The  best  foundation  for  the  faith  of  man, 

The  only  one  deserving  of  his  heed. 

His  cherished  frame  we  see  is  part  of  earth  ; 

And  though  in  attributes  the  chief  of  all 

Its  creatures,  yet  in  substance  but  the  same  ; 

And  soon,  his  form  decayed  and  pride  laid  low, 

His  dust  shall  be  returned  to  dust,  again 

To  enter  into  other  living  forms  ; 

Thus  are  we  tied  to  everything  that  lives  ; 

Thus  wedded  to  the  future  and  the  past. 

But  Pride,  that  sometimes  prompts  men  to  disown 

The  sacred  ties  of  kindred  and  of  race, 

Here  vauntingly  steps  in,  and  interdicts 

The  bans  of  this  belief.     She  cannot  bear 

The  thought  of  being  clad  in  cast-off  clothes, 

Or  sharing  with  the  common  herd  in  aught ; 

But  rather  hugs  the  flattering  hope  that  she 

Is  more  important  in  the  scale  of  life 

Than  anything  besides  to  Him  above, 

Who  is  the  common  parent  to  the  whole  ; 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  105 

And  man,  complacent,  listens  to  her  voice. 
Poor  dying  mass  of  dust  and  vanity  ! 
Art  tliou  essential  to  the  universe  ? 
Or  needful  more  to  Him  who  reigns  supreme 
Than  is  the  humblest  creature  of  His  hand  ? 
True,  'tis  thy  happiness  to  hold  a  place 
Among  the  very  foremost  ranks  of  life, 
For  which  all  gratitude  and  praise  are  due  • 
But  art  thou  therefore  all  and  all  to  God  ? 
Or  does  He  need  thy  service  or  thy  praise  ? 
Thou  and  thy  race  extinct,  He  from  the  stones 
Could  raise  up  issue  to  obey  His  will, 
Without  an  effort,  or  the  heed  of  time. 
Eternal  and  Almighty,  not  for  Him 
Exists  or  labor  or  the  lapse  of  time  • 
To  Him  past,  present  and  to  come  are  now. 
Know  well  thyself,  proud  offspring  of  the  dust, 
Thy  true  condition  see  ;  repent,  and  ask 
For  mercy  and  forgiveness  of  thy  sins, 
And  try  to  mend  ;  for  by  humility 
Must  all  be  justified  and  not  by  pride  : 
We  cannot  mend  unless  we  see  our  faults. 

While  all  around  we  see  the  things  of  life, 
The  offspring  of  God's  wide-extended  love, 

5* 


106  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

And  man  of  all  the  family  the  chief, 

Beneficently  should  we  act  to  all, 

As  we  beneficence  expect  of  Him 

Who  with  parental  care  all  life  sustains  ; 

And  seeking  first  the  welfare  of  our  kind, 

Some  thought  in  kindness  give  to  things  beneath. 

Here  lies  the  true  supremacy  of  man — 

Not  harshly,  as  a  tyrant,  to  preside, 

But  hold  the  reins  of  sovereignty  in  love. 

All  dangerous  or  noxious  forms  of  life, 

Things  that  contribute  to  supply  his  wants 

Of  food  and  clothing  and  what  needful  else, 

He  well  may  take,  holding  this  rule  in  view, 

No  pang  unnecessary  to  inflict. 

Thus  only  we  co-operate  with  God, 

Thus  imitate  in  some  degree  His  love. 

The  universe  and  all  that  it  contains 
In  everlasting  love  divine  are  wrapped  ; 
By  this  they  are  sustained  and  every  part 
Is  filled  with  its  ecstatic  influence. 
The  stars  in  rapture  sparkle,  and  the  earth, 
In  sunshine  revels  in  a  sea  of  bliss. 
Atom  to  kindred  atom  clings  in  love. 
In  love  the  ocean  heaves  its  throbbing  breast 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  107 

And  toys  in  wanton  dalliance  with  the  gale. 
When  gladdened  by  the  genial  showers  of  spring, 
The  teeming  soil  a  tribute  pays  to  love, 
And  hangs  a  grateful  wreath  on  every  bough. 
The  trees,  though  mute,  proclaim  its  gentle  sway, 
As  they  with  clasping  roots  embrace  the  ground, 
Aloft  extend  their  grateful  arms  in  praise. 
Kiss  with  their  leafy  lips  the  balmy  dews, 
And  bathe  enamored  in  the  cheerful  day. 
All  life  is  full  of  love  :  on  every  side 
Wafted  upon  the  breeze  its  sounds  are  borne  ; 
And  habitants  of  all  of  nature's  realms 
Unite  to  swell  the  choral  minstrelsy. 
When  sultry  Sirius  rules  the  glowing  sky, 
And  welcome  shades  assuage  the  fervid  noon, 
Instinct  with  various  life,  on  filmy  wing 
Upborne,  the  buzzing  air  is  jubilant 
With  strains  of  this  the  universal  hymn. 
Forth  form  the  confines  of  the  reedy  pool, 
Where  things  amphibious  congregate  and  find 
The  joys  congenial  to  their  two-fold  state, 
The  notes  in  harmony  discordant  rise. 
Such  were  the  doubtful  strains  that  bade  awake 
The  sleeping  echoes  of  the  rocks  and  woods, 
When  first  with  palpitating  breast  the  air 


108  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Bore  to  and  fro  the  freight  of  vocal  sound  : 
In  such  rude  strains  at  first  love  found  a  voice  ; 
More  musical  its  notes  from  yonder  grove, 
Where  lonely  Philomel  her  story  tells 
Of  love  betrayed  and  of  man's  perfidy, 
And  pours  her  sorrows  in  a  flood  of  song, 
So  sweetly  sad  it  touches  every  heart ; 
While  silent  Nature,  listening,  lies  entranced. 
The  loving  arms  of  God  surround  the  world 
And  shelter  it  from  harm,  as  mother  fond 
Clings  to  her  babe  and  folds  it  to  her  breast. 
In  brevity  and  truth,  we  sum  up  all 
In  this  one  sentence — "  God  Himself  is  Love." 
His  love  it  is  that  sparkles  in  the  stars, 
Warms  and  illumines  in  the  solar  ray, 
Binds  kindred  atoms  in  a  magic  chain, 
Makes  all-  the  universe  replete  with  bliss, 
And  every  heart  inspires  with  ecstacy. 
He  is  the  Sentient  Principle  of  all, 
Of  every  bliss  the  Great  Recipient  He. 
With  soul  of  more  capacity  for  love 
Than  all  the  various  creatures  of  His  hand, 
Most  godlike  in  this  faculty  supreme, 
Shall  man  the  gift  abandon,  and  forget 
His  Maker  and  the  end  for  which  he's  made  ? 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  109 

Be  ever  hateful  such  a  base  decline  ! 
Oh,  cultivate  the  heart  and  let  it  grow 
Till  like  the  heart  of  God  the  utter  bounds 
Of  its  intelligence  it  whelms  in  love  ! 
Then  shall  we  fill  the  measure  of  our  souls 
"With  happiness  divine  ;  and  be  as  like 
To  Him  as  mortals  to  immortal  can. 
How  can  we  come  before  His  throne  in  prayer 
For  love  and  mercy,  when  we  both  deny 
To  those  meek  things  subjected  to  our  will  ? 
First  deeds  of  mercy  let  us  learn  to  do, 
Then  mercy  we  with  reason  may  expect. 

God's  universal  laws  are  love  diffused, 
Whose  bonds  ethereal  in  congenial  bliss 
Hold  all  united  things  ;  though  not  for  aye 
The  union  lasts,  naught  earthly  can  ;  for  soon 
Some  new  affection  of  divorcive  power 
Asserts  its  changeful  sway  and  gives  again 
The  sportive  atoms  to  embraces  fresh. 
Newness  and  vigor  ever  thus  prevail 
Through  all  His  works  ;  and  thus  His  power  and  love 
Unlimited  and  ceaseless  prove  to  be. 

In  looking  on  the  Mighty  Architect 


110  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Of  all  the  wonders  that  we  see  around, 

As  the  Immortal,  Universal  Soul 

And  Wide  Intelligence  that  all  pervades, 

And  overrules  with  wise  and  perfect  laws 

That  bear  the  impress  of  eternal  love, 

And  know  no  change  nor  shadow  of  a  change, 

How  vast,  how  infinitely  grand  He  seems  ! 

The  Cause  of  causes,  Parent  of  all  life, 

Himself  the  Essence  of  His  mighty  works, 

And  Source  Exhaustless  whence  eternally 

Profuse  they  flow  in  ever-spreading  streams 

And  forms  of  beauty  ever  fresh  and  new. 

Alone  Almighty  and  Eternal  He  ; 

Worthy  He  only  of  all  reverence 

And  adoration  high  of  praise  and  prayer. 

What  adoration,  service,  intercourse, 
We  rightly  owe,  or  hold  with,  this  Eterne 
And  Omnipotent  Essence,  now  invites 
My  venturous  thoughts.  Aid  me,  O  Power  Sublime ! 
O  vast  Omniscience  !  to  see  through  the  veil 
That  hides  Thy  light  divine  from  mortal  eyes. 
One  ray  vouchsafe  to  lend,  my  steps  to  guide, 
Unskilled  to  tread  the  labyrinthine  maze  : 
That  I  the  sacred  theme  may  not  profane  : 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  m 

May  not  with  superstitious  fears  debase, 

X or  lightly  with  irreverence  approach  ! 

And  first  a  word  upon  the  head  of  prayer. 

If  laws  immutable  o'crrule  the  world, 

It  may  be  asked  what  man,  what  prayer  can  do. 

This,  though  inefficacious  held  to  be 

By  some  ;  by  some  again  of  might  to  stay 

The  sun  and  moon  upon  their  daily  march, 

And  move  the  rocks  and  mountains  from,  their  beds, 

How  much,  on  either  hand,  misunderstood  ! 

Hath  yet  its  mission  true  to  fill  ;  and  here, 

As  in  most  other  things,  truth  lies 

Between  the  two  extremes,  oft  called  the  "  golden 

mean." 

Though  held  within  the  grasp  of  general  laws, 
The  world  is  not  so  closely  bound  in  fate, 
That  nothing  is  there  left  for  man  to  do, 
Xothing  to  pray  for,  nothing  to  desire. 
Although  lie  has  not  full  control  o'er  all 
His  actions  and  his  feelings,  yet  he  can 
To  some  extent  confine  them  both  within 
The  bounds  of  moderation  and  of  right. 
For  this  is  reason  ;  destiny  the  rest 
With  fixed,  inevitable  law  directs, 
And  limits  all  to  wise  and  perfect  ends. 


112  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Truly  'tis  said  "  there  is  a  Providence 

"  That  shapes  our  ends,  rough-hew  them  as  we  may." 

Prayer  is  instinctive  to  the  human  heart ; 
Proceeding  from  a  yearning  of  the  soul 
For  what  we  feel,  ourselves,  we  cannot  reach  ; 
And  placing  in  a  higher  power  our  trust, 
We  make  propitiation  for  its  aid. 
The  dumb  creation  that  have  not  the  gifts 
Of  reason  and  of  speech,  nor  power  of  prayer, 
God's  guidance  have  instinctively,  unknown. 
The  duckling  from  its  oval  prison-house 
Just  burst,  and  strange  to  all  the  outer  world, 
Heedless  of  warnings  uttered  by  the  hen, 
Its  foster-parent,  who  beholds  with  dread 
Its  seeming  mad  career,  without  a  thought 
Or  doubt,  commits  its  tender  downy  form 
To  the  inviting  bosom  of  the  pond  : 
While  standing  by  in  passive  unconcern, 
Its  comrade  chicklings  dare  not  brave  the  flood. 
God's  spirit  comes  to  these  unasked,  unfelt, 
And  leads  them  in  the  path  they  ought  to  tread. 
Man's  angel  is  a  higher  one  and  comes 
At  his  solicitation  to  his  side. 
The  things  that  his  best  interests  subserve 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  1] 

And  which  arc  sought  for  in  sincerity, 

With  earnest  wishes  and  attendant  deeds, 

In  God's  good  time  he  surely  shall  obtain  : 

Ere  the  accomplishment  of  his  designs 

The  will  and  action  must  prepare  the  way  : 

Prayer  is  an  indication  of  the  will, 

And  when  sincere  must  lead  us  to  attempt 

Attainment  of  the  object  we  desire, 

And  God  helps  those  who  try  to  help  themselves. 

When  we  in  earnestness  desire  and  pray 

For  His  assistance  to  perform  the  part 

That  He  appoints  us  in  our  lot  in  life, 

We  place  ourselves  in  unity  with  Him 

And  happily  fulfill  what  He  ordains. 

'Tis  not  to  be  supposed  that  mortal  prayers, 

Mingled,  confused  and  contradictory, 

Sent  up  to  heaven  by  the  varied  swarms 

That  hive  and  wrestle  on  this  nether  earth, 

All  goaded  on  by  narrow  selfishness, 

Can  move  the  Father  of  the  universe, 

Or  alter  in  the  least  His  wise  decrees, 

That  more  regard  the  welfare  of  the  whole, 

Than  the  vain  wishes  of  one  peevish  child. 

He  needs  no  promptings  from  the  voice  of  man 

And  not  on  Him  can  prayer  exert  its  power  : 


114  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Yet  proper  prayers  have  beneficial  ends  ; 
But  'tis  upon  the  human  heart  they  act, 
And  tune  it  into  harmony  with  God. 
;Tis  not  in  attitude,  nor  tone  of  voice. 
Nor  customary  phrase,  that  prayer  consists  ; 
Within  the  breast  alone  its  well-springs  dwell, 
And  overflow  in  every  thought  and  deed. 
Amid  the  cares  and  troubles  of  the  world, 
When  doubts  and  difficulties  gather  round, 
Despair  would  oft-times  whelm  the  fainting  soul, 
But  for  the  soothing  aid  of  prayer  and  faith, 
Whose  hopeful  influence  sustains  the  mind 
Till  victory  at  length  rewards  our  toils. 
We  should  repudiate  all  unworthy  thoughts 
As  diligently  as  unworthy  prayers  ; 
Both  equally  offend  the  Source  of  Grace. 

Attracted  as  the  needle  to  the  pole, 
The  soul  of  man  turns  to  its  Origin 
And  yearns  to  be  in  intercourse  with  God. 
This  sentiment  is  inborn  to  the  heart 
And  must  be  gratified  ;  hence,  in  some  shape, 
Which  the  heart  harmonizes  to  itself, 
Religion  is  a  fixed  necessity 
And  want  of  nature  not  to  be  denied. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  H5 

But  faint  this  feeling  in  the  giddy  heart 
In  early  age,  "when  life  is  strong,  and  all 
The  blandishments  of  earth  assert  their  sway  ; 
But  as  we  grow  in  years,  and  nearer  draws 
The  time  when  earthly  ties  must  be  dissolved, 
The  soul  more  earnestly  aspires  to  heaven, 
To  which  it  seems  to  feel  'tis  hastening  on. 
So  the  worn  mariner,  when  homeward  bound, 
After  long  tossing  on  the  stormy  main, 
Feels,  as  he  nears  the  land,  his  soul  possessed 
With  welcome  thoughts  of  rest  from  all  his  toils. 
So  strong  the  innate  longing  of  mankind 
For  faith  of  some  kind  to  repose  upon, 
That  it  usurps  the  place  of  evidence, 
And,  for  the  most  part,  captive  leads  the  mind. 
Few  creeds  can  stand  investigation  close  ; 
But  all,  to  some  extent  at  least,  are  right, 
And  haply  all,  to  some  extent,  arc  wrong. 
This  dim  uncertainty  of  every  creed, 
And  universal  fallibility, 
Plead  forcibly  for  charity  to  all. 
Thus  by  instinctive  impulse  we  aspire 
To  reach  the  mystery  of  the  Unknown  ; 
On  this,  as  its  foundation,  faith  is  built. 
The  varied  superstructures  are  upraised, 


116  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Partly  by  inference  from  things  around, — 

For  Reason  whispers  they  must  have  a  Cause, 

The  voice  of  Kature,  there  must  be  a  God, — 

And  partly  by  credulity  and  trust, 

When  weakness  leans  on  others  for  support, 

Too  oft  to  be  misled  by  Sophistry  ; 

And  not  alone  to  inferences  drawn 

From  things  around  us  are  we  left  for  proof 

Of  the  existence  of  the  Deity  ; 

A  voice  within  conspires  to  tell  the  fact. 

The  conqueror  on  the  car  of  Victory, 

Resistless,  over  prostrate  nations  borne  ; 

He  who  in  quiet  occupies  the  seat 

Of  power  his  ancestors  have  handed  down  ; 

He  who  procures  his  daily  bread  by  toil, 

Uncertain  how  to-morrow  he  may  live  ; 

Rulers  and  ruled,  rich,  poor,  all  feel  alike — 

Save  when  the  grosser  nature  overshades 

The  spirit-light  and  casts  it  in  eclipse — 

The  hand  of  Providence  in  their  career, 

Aiding,  supporting,  guiding  them  through  life. 

Yarious  men's  minds,  so  various  are  their  creeds 

And  in  the  measure  of  the  intellect 

Their  faith  assumes  a  high  or  lower  grade. 

We  can  no  more  encrraft  a  creed  sublime 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  H7 

Upon  a  groveling  and  degraded  stock, 

Than  we  can  carry  water  in  a  sieve, 

Or  raise  a  goodly  plant  on  barren  soil, 

Or  do  aught  else  opposed  to  nature's  laws. 

A  mind  debased  corrupts  the  purest  faith, 

As  unclean  vessels  spoil  the  purest  wines. 

What  folly  then  to  quarrel  about  creeds, 

Or  think  to  make  all  men  believe  alike. 

To  reap  a  goodly  harvest  of  the  mind, 

A  lesson  we  should  take  of  husbandmen, 

And  till  the  soil  before  we  sow  the  seed. 

Some,  whose  uncultured  minds  can  scarcely  soar 

To  the  sublime  conception  of  a  God 

Who  rules  by  laws  immutable  and  makes, 

All  things  subservient  to  His  wise  designs, 

Behold  a  deity  in  every  tree 

And  stream,  and  star,  and  them  attempt  to  serve 

By  mummeries  ridiculous  and  gross. 

Poor  things  !  according  to  their  narrow  store 

They  give  :  and  He  who  knows  their  poverty 

Accepts  the  offered  mite,  nor  looks  for  more. 

For  knowledge  eager  are  they  as  the  young 

And  callow  nestlings  are  for  nutriment ; 

As  trustful  too  ;  without  a  doubt  they  gape 

And  swallow  what  they  chance  to  get,  unscanned, 


118  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE, 

However  crude  and  indigestible. 

Their  cry  for  bread  is  answered  with  a  stone  ; 

And  they,  so  limited  their  faculties, 

Have  hardly  skill  to  tell  the  difference. 

No  ample  page  of  knowledge  ripe  unfolds 

Its  rich,  accumulated  stores  to  them. 

Forlorn  they  wander  in  the  shades  of  night, 

And  grope  their  devious  path  as  best  they  can, 

By  any  avenue  that  they  can  find, 

No  matter  how  obscure  and  wrong  it  be. 

Others,  with  thoughts  indefinite  and  vague, 

A  shadow  faint  of  the  Eternal  see 

In  uncouth  idols  whimsically  made, 

Expressive  of  His  fancied  attributes  : 

And  worship  them  in  reverence  and  awe, 

With  sacrifices  and  fantastic  rites, 

Burnt  offerings,  or  those  of  food  and  wear, 

Or  votive  gifts  of  tinsel  ornaments  : 

For  what  they  chiefly  set  their  hearts  upon, 

They  deem  of  the  most  value  to  their  gods  : 

And  some,  more  ostentatious  in  their  views 

And  given  to  parade,  seek  to  obtain 

God's  favor  by  observances  and  forms 

Imposing  made  by  pomp  and  pageantry  ; 

And  some  again  their  adoration  keep 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  H9 

Within  their  hearts,  or  utter  it  alone 
To  Him  whose  favor  they  desiro  to  gain. 
However  different  their  views  of  God, 
All  act  upon  one  universal  law 
And  try  to  follow  out  its  high  behests, 
As  nearly  as  their  weakness  will  permit. 

Though  growing  wiser,  still  mankind  at  large 
Are  hardly  yet  prepared  to  understand 
A  purely  rational  system  of  belief. 
The  love  of  idols,  signs  and  miracles, 
Yet  nestles  deeply  in  the  public  heart  : 
And  men  who  think  themselves  too  wise  by  far 
To  worship  graven  images,  will  yet 
With  fear  and  trembling  to  the  dust  bow  down 
Before  their  idol  volumes  that  contain 
The  dreams  and  brain-sickness  of  other  days, 
And  cry  with  awe-struck  voice  and  downcast  look, 
"  Lo  !  here  is  God  ;  let  reason's  voice  be  mute, 
"  And  let  no  prying,  sacrilegious  eye 
"  Presume  His  awful  mysteries  to  scan  !  " 
In  view  of  such  a  state  of  facts  what  right 
Have  these  self-righteous  Pharisees  to  say, 
"  Before  the  living  God  alone  we  bow. 
"  While  the  vile  heathen  worships  wood  and  stone  !  " 


120  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Do  they  not  see  the  motes  in  other  eyes, 
Though  blind  to  beams  existing  in  their  own  ? 
Although  not  yet,  the  time  shall  come  when  men 
Shall  worship  God  in  spirit  and  in  truth, 
Whose  temple  is  the  heart,  not  made  with  hands 
For  He  who  is  a  spirit  should  be  served 
In  spirit  and  in  truth,  and  not  in  forms. 
This  is  the  universal  creed  that  must, 
Wherever  reason  rules  the  mind,  prevail  • 
And  with  the  meek-eyed  Virtues  ministering, 
'Tis  all  that  God  requires,  or  man  should  ask. 
It  first  was  taught  in  ancient  times  by  one 
Too  good  for  the  dark  age  in  which  he  lived  ; 
And  therefore  was  he  scorned  and  crucified. 
Alas,  that  men  should  persecute  their  friends, 
And  treat  those  spitefully  who  would  lay  down 
Their  lives  to  mend  and  elevate  the  race  ! 
But  ever  thus  it  is  ;  who  would  subserve 
The  best  and  greatest  interests  of  mankind, 
Must  be  content  to  sacrifice  themselves. 
While  Demogogue  and  Dives,  who  attain 
Their  selfish  ends  by  fraud  and  artifice, 
Are  by  the  many  praised  and  glorified, 
Benevolus,  who  would  reform  the  age 
And  raise  up  the  down-trodden  and  oppressed, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  121 

Is  persecuted,  hated,  and  despised  ; 

Although,  perchance,  when  he  is  dead  and  gone, 

Men  see  their  error,  and,  to  make  amends, 

From  persecutors  turn  to  worshippers  ; 

And  he  who  yesterday  was  criminal, 

To  day  becomes  transmuted  to  a  god. 

This  is  exemplified  in  modern  times 

As  plainly  as  it  was  in  those  remote  : 

Mankind  is  ever  given  to  extremes. 

A  little  while  ago — the  time  is  fresh 

Within  the  memory  of  most  of  us — 

Philanthropists  who  dared  to  raise  a  voice 

In  favor  of  a  persecuted  race 

Condemned  to  pine  in  chains  and  slavery, 

Were  hooted  as  they  walked  the  streets,  and  some 

Were  even  murdered  for  no  other  cause 

Than  that  they  hated  tyranny  and  wrong  : 

But  see   the    change   these  last  few   years    have 

wrought  1 

Those  whom  the  many  held  in  such  distaste 
Are  now  the  chosen  rulers  of  the  land, 
And  bondage  is  itself  rebuked  and  bound. 
The  bowed-down  millions  who  were  forced  to  drain 
The  bitter  cup  of  hopeless  servitude, 
Now  disenthralled,  stand  up  erect  as  men, 
6 


122  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

And  hope,  the  choicest  boon  of  heaven,  is  theirs. 
In  ceaseless  whirls  and  eddies  thus  rolls  on 
The  seething  tide  of  the  affairs  of  man, 
And  out  of  evil  God  produces  good. 

When  dawning  science  first  a  doubtful  light 
Shed  upon  Reason's  but  half-open  eyes, 
The  seeming  mixture  of  both  good  and  ill, 
Found  on  the  surface  of  affairs  of  earth, 
Made  men  suppose — the  wisest  of  their  day — 
That  powers  adverse  held  conflicting  rule. 
These  the  chief  magian,  Zoroaster,  named 
One  of  them  Oromasdes,  or  the  good, 
The  other  Ariman,  the  evil  one. 
This  faith  the  minds  of  more  than  half  mankind 
Still  rules  ;  although  in  other  terms  disguised 
Its  votaries  think  that  they,  in  this  respect, 
Are  wiser  than  their  prototypes  of  yore, 
So  easily  are  men  beguiled  by  names. 
These  principles  of  good  and  evil  now 
By  names  of  God  and  Devil  we  denote. 
Beelzebub,  Abaddon,  Ariman, 
Apollyon,  Belial,  Satan,  Lucifer, 
Or  what  besides  we  name  the  devil  by — 
What  matters  it  ?  all  signify  the  same. 
Many  now  see  beyond  such  shallow  creeds 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  J23 

And  view  these  fabled  monsters  with  contempt : 
They  therefore  are  arraigned  as  infidels 
By  those,  more  numerous,  of  easy  faith. 
The  contest  widens,  and  it  must  result 
As  contests  ever  do  when  mind  with  mind 
Conflicts,  as  steel  with  steel ;  or  soon  or  late 
The  sparks  of  truth  are  sure  to  be  struck  out : 
And  Superstition,  like  the  baleful  wolf 
That  prowls  in  darkness  round  a  sleeping  fold, 
Scared  by  the  light,  back  to  its  kindred  gloom 
"Will  slink  away  and  vex  the  soul  no  more. 
Truth  must  come  out  triumphant  and  proclaim 
God  rules  the  world  with  undivided  sway, 
Omnipotent,  resistless  and  alone  ; 
And  neither  man  nor  fiend  can  in  rebellion  stand 
Against  His  might,  nor  overturn  His  laws. 

Heaven  and  hell  are  emblems  of  this  world — 
Reflections  of  the  heart's  antitheses. 
The  former  represents  joy,  love  and  peace, 
The  latter  typifies  pain,  discord,  hate  : 
And  angels  we  of  light  or  devils  black 
May  be  to  one  another  in  the  flesh. 
When  hearts  congenial  to  each  other  cleave, 
And  both  in  every  throb  responsive  beat, 


124  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Each  mutual  joy  is  multiplied  tenfold  : 
While  sympathy  with  sweet  assuasive  balm, 
Soothes  every  sorrow  to  a  calm  serene  : 
Scarce  heaven  itself  can  picture  greater  bliss  : 
But  if  in  discord  harsh,  or  mutual  hate 
They  come  together,  ah !  what  woes  are  theirs  : 
No  further  need  we  seek  to  find  a  hell. 

Gold  crowns  and  harps,  white  robes  and  jewels 

rare, 

Streets  paved  with  gold  and  houses  built  of  gems, 
Music  and  song,  wine,  women,  luxury, 
And  sensual  pleasures  ceaseless  such  as  these, 
Are  the  devices  heaven  is  decked  withal 
To  lure  the  base  cupidity  of  man, 
And  build  on  it  and  ignorance  his  faith  : 
And  on  the  other  hand  eternal  pain, 
With  lakes  of  burning  brimstone,  hideous  fiends, 
And  so  forth,  are  creations  of  the  mind 
To  furnish  fittingly  the  dread  abode     . 
Of  anguish  tribulation  and  despair, 
Invented  to  control  the  ignorant 
And  frighten  back  again  those  half-way  souls 
Who  cannot  close  the  avenue  of  doubt, 
Yet  fear  to  exercise  the  right  of  thought. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  125 

Are  such  things  suited  to  a  spirit  realm? 

Or  are  they  creeds  to  snarl  and  fight  about 

In  this  enlightened  century  and  land 

Boasting  the  rule  of  intellect  alone  ? 

Look  on  the  scene  and  blush,  O  age  refined  ! 

Look  back  too  over  scenes  of  blood  and  tears, 

Of  fiery  persecution  and  of  hate, 

Of  kingdoms  desolate  and  cities  burned, 

Of  slaughter  sparing  neither  age  nor  sex, 

And  of  the  world-wide  multitude  of  wrongs 

Committed  by  the  hand  of  tyranny, 

To  force  belief  in  these  absurdities 

And  satisfy  the  bigotry  of  man  ! 

Behold  the  furious  zealot  in  his  rage 

Death  and  destruction  deal  profusely  round, 

In  hopes  to  merit  heaven  when  he  dies, 

By  making  earth  the  ante-room  of  hell, 

Replete  with  hatred,  discord,  pain  and  dread  ! 

Look  back  and  blush  at  what  mankind  has  done  ; 

Blush  arid  determine  to  offend  no  more. 

No  more  let  Faith,  whose  raiment  should  be  pure 

And  white  as  robes  of  virgin  innocence, 

Be  made  blood-red  by  violence  and  strife  ! 

Hence  gory  monster  and  usurping  fiend, 

Black  Bigotry,  of  hell  and  darkness  born, 


126  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Back  to  your  home  obscure  ;  day  dawns  and  light  ; 
Is  fatal  to  such  specters  of  the  night ! 

But,  it  is  said,  these  visionary  charms 
With  which  the  kingdom  of  the  blest  is  decked, 
Incentives  are  to  virtue  and  to  faith  : 
And  that  the  pictured  terrors  of  that  place 
Where  unrepentant  sinners  are  consigned, 
In  punishment  for  errors  and  for  doubts, 
Are  necessary  checks  to  keep  the  world 
From  rushing  headlong  into  vice  and  crime, 
And  that  they  have  a  wholesome  influence. 
This  hackneyed  argument  of  "  good  intent " 
Has  ever  been  the  sanctuary  of  wrong 
And  ready  refuge  of  its  advocates. 
Ah,  yet  how  long  shall  error  rule  the  world  ! 
How  long  before  mankind  shall  be  convinced 
That  lasting  good  from  falsehood  cannot  spring ! 
All  artifices  to  disguise  the  truth, 
Though  they  may  dim  the  vision  for  awhile, 
Transparent  grow  by  age  and  profitless. 
No  matter  whence  they  come,  from  tripod,  shrine, 
Or  holy  altar,  all  at  length  must  fade 
And  bring  their  vaunted  origins  to  shame. 
The  scales  are  falling  off  from  countless  eyes, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  127 

And  pious  frauds  no  more,  nor  mystic  creeds, 
As  toys  that  serve  to  still  a  fretful  child, 
Can  pacify  their  yearning  after  light. 
What  men  seek  after  is  reality  ; 
They  scorn  to  be  contemptuously  beguiled, 
However  much  it  may  advantage  them  ; 
And  when  they  have  detected  artifice 
In  any  form  of  faith,  or  sophistry, 
However  excellent  some  parts  may  be, 
They  turn  displeased  away  and  all  suspect 
As  fabricated  only  to  deceive. 

"  A  tree  is  judged  of  by  its  fruit  alone. 
"  Men  are  not  wont  to  gather  grapes  from  thorns  ; 
"  Neither  from  thistles  do  they  look  for  figs  ; 
"  A  good  tree  cannot  bring  forth  evil  fruit," 
Tried  by  this  holy  text,  are  all  the  fruits 
This  tree  of  supernatural  horrors  bears 
As  excellent  as  they  are  vouched  to  be  ? 
Hark  to  the  clank  of  chains,  the  maniac  shrieks, 
That  come  from  yon  receptacle  of  woe, 
Where  wildered  wretches  pine,  at  once  bereft 
Of  reason's  stamp  divine  and  liberty  ; 
And  fallen  human  nature  may  be  seen 
Sunk  down  beneath  the  level  of  the  brute  ! 


128  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Or  him  behold,  by  wrathful  Furies  driven, 

Avengers  of  the  violated  ritos 

And  desecrated  shrines  of  jealous  gods, 

Arm  his  own  hand  against  his  hated  life, — 

To  him  e'en  worse  than  that  he  dreads  to  come, 

Thronged  through  it  be  with  torments  and  with 

fiends, — 

And  cut  at  once  the  thread  of  life  and  doubt, 
In  haste  insane  to  meet  the  fate  he  dreads  ; 
Then  seek  how  such  events  are  brought  about ! 
Such  poisons  can  a  goodly  tree  bring  forth  ? 
Or  rather  are  they  not  the  growth  alone 
Of  some  infectious  upas  of  the  mind 
That  taints  the  moral  atmosphere  with  death  ? 
Whate'er  this  tree  may  be,  or  good  or  bad, 
'Twill  profit  us  at  least  to  learn  the  facts. 
Experience,  let  thy  lips  the  tale  relate, 
From  favor  and  ill-will  alike  exempt ! 
The  baleful  origin,  thou  tellest  us, 
Of  such  dire  woes  may  oftentimes  be  found 
In  those  vain  terrors  of  a  world  to  come, 
With  which  some  over-zealous  shepherds  strive 
To  fright  their  simple,  easy-minded  flocks 
Into  the  paths  they  think  they  ought  to  tread. 
The  mark  o'ershot,  Reason  vacates  her  throne 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  129 

And  flics  from  horrors  that  she  cannot  bear. 

Such,  gentle  Perdita,  thy  piteous  fate  ! 

Of  disposition  keenly  sensitive 

And  much  to  serious  meditation  prone, 

When  taught  to  view  the  gaieties  of  youth 

And  innocent  amusements  of  the  ago 

As  hateful  to  the  Giver  of  all  joy, 

And  warned  to  tremble  at  "  the  wrath  to  come/' 

At  first  thy  unsuspicious  heart  was  grieved, 

And  pined  for  want  of  more  congenial  food 

Than  sadness  now  and  thoughts  of  future  woe  ; 

Then,  weary  of  the  load,  gave  back  to  God 

Its  guileless  spirit  that  instead  of  peace, 

Found  naught  but  tribulation  and  despair. 

The  end  perceived,  to  which  it  sometimes  leads, 

This  "  wholesome  influence  "  they  may  vaunt  who 

like  ; 

For  me,  I  glory  in  the  liberty 
In  which,  thanks  be  to  God,  my  soul  is  free. 

"  In  likeness  of  his  Maker  man  is  made  " — • 
Of  some  allowance  this  may  well  admit — 
And  man  the  great  example  imitates 
When  he  becomes  the  maker  of  his  gods  ; 
The  image  of  himself  he  then  adores. 
6* 


130  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

In  Fancy's  glass  he  views  his  inmost  soul 
Reflected  dimly  and  he  knows  it  not : 
But,  as  it  is  congenial  to  his  tastes, 
Concludes  that  it  must  surely  be  divine 
And  bows  to  the  reflection  of  himself. 
So  it  is  said,  while  bending  o'er  a  stream, 
Narcissus  saw  his  form  depicted  there  ; 
And  taking  it  to  be  a  thing  of  life, 
Became  enamored  of  the  pleasing  shade. 
'Tis  soothing  to  men's  vanity  to  clothe 
The  Godhead  in  their  darling  weaknesses  : 
Hence  come  their  different  ideas  of  Him. 
"With  some  He  is  revengeful  and  morose, 
With  others  sweet,  benevolent  and  kind, 
As  they  themselves  this  way  or  that  incline. 
In  early  times,  ere  the  ferocity 
That  on  man's  lapse  from  pristine  innocence 
And  nature's  simple  ways  soon  supervened, 
By  laws  and  precepts  ethical  was  tamed, 
Rapine  on  high  unfurled  his  crimson  flag 
"Where  now  the  teachings  of  the  cross  prevail ; 
A  god  of  battles  was  the  Lord  Supreme, 
And  paradise  itself  a  place  where  men 
Drank  wine  from  skulls  of  slaughtered  enemies  : 
But  times  are  changed  and  with  them  men  aro 
changed  : 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  131 

And  paradise  is  now  supposed  to  be 
A  place  of  peace  and  everlasting  love. 
This  tells  the  progress  of  the  human  mind. 

Albeit  tinctured  by  the  looking-glass 
In  which  men  think  they  see  God's  form  portrayed, 
All  faith  is  prompted  in  the  first  by  Him  ; 
An  inspiration  that  is  given  to  all. 
Compassionate,  the  Comforter  He  sends 
To  whisper  peace  to  every  troubled  soul, 
Of  whatsoever  creed  or  race  it  be. 
The  Universal  Parent  He  ;  alike 
For  all  He  cares,  on  all  His  love  descends, 
Like  dews  of  heaven  upon  the  thirsty  earth, 
Diffusing  life  and  health  and  joy  around. 
Shall  man,  by  narrow  bigotry  inspired, 
Or  led  by  ignorance,  or  lust  of  power, 
Presume  to  launch  His  thunders  and  condemn 
To  tortures  in  this  world  and  cruel  deaths, 
And  in  the  world  to  coine  to  endless  woe, 
Whom  He  endures  nor  visits  with  rebuke  ? 
Peace,  peace,  for  shame,  pretended  ministers 
Of  His  unfathomable,  boundless  love  ! 
Why  should  ye  thus  pervert  His  truth  benign  ? 
Ye  know  Him  not,  neither  His  laws  ye  know  ; 


132  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

For  pardon  of  your  error  this  your  plea. 

Consult  His  acts  if  Him  ye  would  unfold  ; 

In  these  alone  He  stands  revealed  ;  nor  look 

To  see  His  light  divine  effulgent  beam 

Forth  in  the  legends  of  barbaric  times 

And  nations  steeped  in  ignorance  and  vice . 

His  presence  only  can  His  power  display  : 

He  comes,  and  lo !  the  earth  is  filled  with  light. 

He  speaks,  'tis  universal  harmony  ! 

Let  all  attentive  listen,  see  and  learn, 

And  let  each  harsh  discordant  voice  be  still. 

Parent  of  all  and  Universal  Soul, 
To  thee  alone  I  bow  the  suppliant  knee, 
In  reverence  profound  and  heartfelt  love  I 
Save  Nature  only,  no  high  priest  hast  Thou. 
To  all  of  mental  vision  unobscured, 
Sufficient  she  to  teach  thy  simple  faith. 
All  mortals  boastful,  who  pretend  to  bind 
By  Thy  decrees  and  fulminate  Thy  word, 
Are  dupes  perhaps,  or  haply  something  worse. 
'Tis  well  that  to  the  weak  or  wicked  hands 
Of  man  Thou  dost  not  delegate  Thy  power  : 
"Well  has  he  shown  the  use  he'd  put  it  to. 
Had  he  the  right  conferred  to  bless  and  ban, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE  133 

And  bid  the  elements  obey  his  will, 

The  genial  sun  no  more  on  all  would  shine, 

Nor  fertilizing  dews  and  showers  descend 

Impartially  the  earth  to  renovate. 

Nature  would  hide  her  face  beneath  a  cowl, 

And  never  smile,  or  smile  alone  on  slaves 

Who  bent  the  supple  knee  to  tyranny. 

Her  favors  would  be  partially  bestowed, 

Her  punishments  be  scattered  broadcast  round. 

The  lightning's  scathing  flash,  the  earthquake's  shock, 

Tornado's  breath,  and  blight  of  pestilence, 

In  petty  bickerings  and  strife  of  creeds 

Would  daily  do  their  devastating  work, 

Till  earth  one  wide  Sahara  would  be  made, 

And  mankind  dwindled  to  a  horde  of  serfs. 

In  mercy  to  the  world  Thou  dost  retain 

The  reins  of  government  within  Thy  hands 

Omnipotent,  above  all  mortal  aid. 

No  hierarchy  pompous  dost  Thou  need, 

No  sacrifices  but  a  contrite  heart, 

No  senseless  ceremonies  lengthened  out, 

Xo  arbitrary  rites,  nor  feasts,  nor  fasts. 

All  these  thou  art  above  ;  and  they  but  serve 

To  dim  Thy  light  and  lead  astray  the  mind. 

No  mortal  hands  can  raise  an  edifice 


134  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Of  size  and  splendor  suitable  to  be 

Thy  throne  and  dwelling  place  ;  yet  such  thou  hast. 

Its  roof,  its  walls,  its  floor  and  lengthened  aisles 

Are  star-gemmed  space  indefinite  and  vast : 

And  the  immeasurable  azure  vault 

We  see  above  the  clouds  is  but  a  part 

Minute  of  its  extent  beyond  our  view. 

Such  is  Thy  temple,  where  eternally 

Thy  creatures  sing  Thy  praises  and  Thy  love. 

The  brightness  of  Thy  glory  fills  the  whole  ; 

And  all  the  burning  spheres  that  gyrate  there 

In  mighty  circles,  mingled  yet  distinct, 

And  ne'er  in  conflict  nor  disorder  thrown — 

The  wondrous  clock-work  of  Thy  hand  that  marks 

The  days  and  seasons  of  eternity — 

With  one  consent  in  perfect  concord  join 

To  swell  the  harmony  that  all  pervades. 

They  and  the  voices  of  all  life  combine 

To  chant  the  anthem  of  the  universe, 

Hosanna  in  the  highest,  to  Thy  praise. 

Be  it  mine  to  join  this  universal  choir, 

And  pay  to  Thee  the  homage  of  the  heart, 

In  unison  with  nature  and  Thy  laws, 

Heedless  of  creeds  that  stand  opposed  to  these. 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  135 

S \vcet  and  refreshing  to  the  weary  soul 
It  is  to  place  our  confidence  in  Thee  : 
Our  load  of  sorrow  at  Thy  feet  to  lay, 
And  ask  Thy  light  divine  our  steps  to  guide. 
Thee  let  me  now,  with  reverence  and  love, 
Approach  in  meditation,  praise  and  prayer. 

THE   PRAYER. 

Withdraw  awhile  my  soul  from  worldly  cares, 
And  bow  before  the  throne  of  the  Most  High  ! 
The  great  prerogative  of  man  enjoy 
Of  holding  with  thy  Maker  intercourse, 
Of  meditating  on  His  power  and  love, 
And  lifting  up  the  heart  in  praise  and  prayer  : 
And  Thou,  0  Power  Divine,  assist  my  thoughts 
To  rise  above  the  meaner  things  of  earth 
And  come  before  Thy  presence  worthily  ! 
Give  me  to  know  Thy  laws  and  attributes, 
And  the  allegiance  that  man  holds  to  Thee  ; 
That  I  my  love  acceptably  may  show, 
Not  only  in  my  words  but  in  my  deeds  ! 

Omnipotent  and  Omnipresent  Thou, 
Of  grandeur  past  conception,  Infinite, 


136  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Unchangeable,  Eternal  and  Alone  : 
Of  all  things  the  Beginning  and  the  End  : 
The  Fount  and  Essence  of  intelligence, 
The  Lord  and  Ruler  of  the  universe, 
And  Judge  both  just  and  merciful  of  all ! 

Though  chief  of  all  Thy  creatures,  yet  is  man 

Most  prone  to  physical  and  moral  ills  : 

Partly  the  price  of  his  pre-eminence, 

But  more  the  penalty  for  having  left 

The  paths  of  nature  and  simplicity, 

Where  health  and  innocence  are  ever  found, 

For  devious  ways  of  luxury  and  art, 

That  lead  to  care,  crime,  suffering  and  death. 

From  infancy  to  age  our  wandering  feet 

Stray  blindly  in  the  labyrinth  of  life, 

Amid  temptations  and  infirmities  : 

But  yet  not  undirected  do  we  roam  ; 

For  Thou  presidest  over  all,  supreme, 

Though  unperceived,  save  in  Thy  changeless  laws, 

Whose  kindly  chastisements  are  meted  out 

To  each  in  just  proportion  to  his  sins  1 

Thou  wilt  recall  us  when  we  wander  off, 

And  prove  a  refuge  when  we  turn  to  Thee ! 

Oh,  may  we  not  refuse  to  hear  Thy  voice, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  137 

Nor  call  destruction  down  upon  our  heads 
By  heedlessly  transgressing  Thy  commands  : 
But  rather  learn  to  read  and  profit  by 
The  useful  lesson  set  in  every  ill ! 

When  I  behold  with  retrospective  eye, 
Lit  by  the  beacons  of  experience  past, 
The  dream-like  waste  of  time  all  strewed  around 
With  snares  and  pitfalls  that  I've  journeyed  o'er, 
Wayward  and  darkling,  yet  preserved  through  all, 
Designs  of  enemies,  mistakes  of  friends, 
And  more  than  all,  saved  even  from  myself 
By  Thy  almighty  and  supporting  arm, 
My  heart  with  gratitude  and  praise  o'erflows, 
For  Thy  abundant  watchfulness  and  love  ! 
Father  Supreme,  receive  my  heartfelt  thanks 
For  Thy  sustaining  care  !  Protect  me  still, 
For  still  I  need  Thy  providential  aid  ! 
Sinful  and  weak,  before  Thee  I  approach 
With  wants  and  imperfections  numberless. 
Be  Thou  my  strength,  0  Lord,  and  comforter  ! 
Into  my  heart  Thy  Holy  Spirit  pour, 
The  Source  of  wisdom  and  of  every  bliss  ! 
Then  shall  I  falter  not,  nor  go  astray, 
Nor  at  Thy  dispensations  just  repine, 


138  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Though  they  incomprehensible  may  be 

To  minds  inclouded  with  the  mists  of  earth  ! 

Life  at  the  best  is  but  a  mingled  scene, 
Where  joy  and  grief  by  turns  divide  the  hour, 
And  then  the  curtain  falls  and  all  is  still. 
Mysterious  shroud  !  what  eye  can  penetrate 
Its  gloomy  folds  and  see  what  lies  beyond  ? 
But  Thine  alone,  Eternal  God !     Enough 
For  us  to  know  we  live  and  die  in  Thee. 
With  proofs  around,  so  ample,  of  Thy  love, 
Why  should  we  fear  to  sleep  within  Thy  arms  ? 
Xow  and  forever  may  we  trust  in  Thee, 
Whose  eyes  are  never  sealed  in  sleep,  but  keep 
Eternal  vigils  over  all  thy  works ! 

Father !  I  now  in  lowliness  of  heart 
Implore  Thy  grace  that  I  may  well  perform 
Whatever  part  in  life  Thou  mayest  ordain  ! 
Thy  perfect  wisdom  knoweth  what  to  grant, 
Better  than  we,  short  sighted,  what  to  ask ; 
To  Thy  disposal  I  submit  myself, 
Convinced  that  Thou  dost  all  things  for  the  best ; 
The  parent  Thou,  I  but  a  feeble  child  : 
Oh,  grant  me  strength  that  I  may  keep  Thy  laws, 


FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE.  139 

Or  when  I  in  my  -weakness  go  astray, 
With  kindly  warnings  call  me  back  again, 
Before  I  wholly  lose  the  way  ordained 
By  Thee  to  be  the  path  of  happiness  !  • 
Uphold  me  by  Thy  hand  and  to  the  last 
Securely  guide  me  through  life's  stormy  sea, 
And  Thine  the  glory,  Thine  the  praise  shall  be  ! 

CONCLUSION. 

My  artless  lay  is  sung.     Unskilled  to  touch 
The  Muse's  well  tuned  lyre,  and  critic  ears 
Fastidious    please  with  polished  melody, 
I  yet  have  rashly  dared,  untaught,  to  try 
"With  Nature's  shell  symphonious  to  amuse 
And  cheer  my  solitude,  and  wake,  perhaps, 
Responsive  chords  in  hearts  that  yet  can  feel 
The  genial  influence  of  its  simple  notes. 
Should  any  deem  that  I  with  step  profane 
Have  trespassed  on  forbidden,  sacred  ground, 
Where  no  unconsecratcd  foot  should  roam, 
I  say  'tis  man's  prerogative  to  tread 
The  paths  of  nature,  wheresoe'cr  they  lead  • 
Though  they  should  scale  the  topmost  height  of 
heaven, 


140  FOOTPRINTS  OF  LIFE. 

Up  to  the  sanctum  of  the  Infinite. 

Or  should  they  deem  that  I  would  loose  the  bonds 

That  bind  mankind  to  God,  they  «mch  mistake 

My  purport ;  for  I  would  by  reason's  aid 

Cement  and  fix  them  indissolvably  : 

And  to  those  whom  no  other  creed  may  suit, 

I  offer  what  may  haply  better  fit 

The  tone  and  mood  peculiar  of  their  minds. 

Tis  not  religion  that  I  would  oppose  : 

But  bigotry,  intolerance,  and  wrong. 

Fain  would  I  see  thee  burst  all  slavish  bonds, 

Forsake  thy  narrow,  much-trod,  mill-horse  rounds, 

0  hood-winked  Piety  !  and  freely  walk 

"With  Truth  and  Mature  in  the  ways  of  Faith. 

What  though  within  one  little  span  of  life 

The  world  at  large  can  hardly  be  reformed  ; 

The  needful  change  at  least  we  can  assist. 

My  quota  of  the  work  would  I  perform  : 

A  seed  upon  the  teeming  soil  of  time 

"Would  cast,  and  haply  after  many  days 

It  may  bring  forth  increase  a  thousand  fold. 


Sent  prepaid  by  first  post  at  prices  annexed. 


PUBLISHED   BY 


SAMUEL  R,  WELLS,  No,  389  BROADWAY, 

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Memory  and  Intellectual  Improve 
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By  Rev.  G.  S.  Weaver.  Muelin...$l  50 

New   Physiognomy;    or,   Signs    of 

Character — As  manifested  through  Tem 
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Physiology,  Animal  and  Mental, 
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The  Story  of  a  Stomach :  an  Egotism. 
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Sober  and  Temperate  Life,  with  Notes 
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Aims  and  Aids  for  G-irls  and  Young: 
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Fruit  Culture  for  the  Million;  or. 
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Human  Rights,  and  their  Political 
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Home  for  All.  The  Gravel  Wall,  a 
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Hopes  and  Helps  for  the  Young 
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Life  in  the  West;  or,  Stories  of  the 
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Author  of  "  Daring  and  Suffering.  In 
troduction  by  Hon.  John  A.  Bingham, 
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Movement-Cure.  Embracing  the  His 
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Pope's  Essay  on  Man.  With  Phreno 
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Saving-  and  Wasting;  or.  Domestic 
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Temperance  in  Congress.  Speeches 
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The  Christian  Household.  Embrac 
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Wife,  Father,  Mother,  Child,  Brother 
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The  Education  of  the  Heart;  or, 
The  Necessity  of  Proper  Moral  Culture 
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Exercises  of  the  Aurora  (111.)  Seminary. 
By  Hon.  Schuyler  Colfax,  Speaker  of 
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The  Good  Man's  Legacy.  A  Sermon 
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The  Right  Word  in  the  Right  Place. 
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Ways  of  Life.  The  Right  Way  and  the 
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A  capital  Work.  Muslin 1  00 

Weaver's  Works  for  the  Young. 
Comprising  "  Hopes  and  Helps,"  "Aims 
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'Consumption,  its  Causes,  Prevention, 
and  Cure.  By  Dr.  Shew.  Mus!in..l  50 

Cook  Book.  Hydropathic.  With  N«w 
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Diseases  of  the  Throat  and  L,ting-s, 
including  Diphtheria.  By  Dr.  Trail,  2oc. 

Domestic  Practice  of  Hydropathy, 

with  15  illustrations  of  important  sub- 
jects.    By  E.  Johnson,  M.I) 2  00 

Family  Physician,  Hydropathic. 
By  Dr.  Shew,  a  large  and  valuable 
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Hydropathy  for  the  People.  _  With 
observations  on  Drills,  Diet,  Air,  and 
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Midwifery  and  the  Diseases  of  Wo 
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!  Philosophy  of  Water-Cure.  By  J. 
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Practice  of  Water -Cure.  By  Drs. 
Wilson  and  Gully 50c. 

Water-Cure  Manual.  A  Popular  work 
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Hydropathic   Encyclopedia :     illust 
rated.     A  Complete  System  of  Hydro 
pathy  and  Hygiene,  embracing  Anato 
my,  illustrated;  Physiology  of  the  Hu 
man  Body  ;  Hygienic  Agencies,  and  tho 
Preservation  of  Health ;  Dietetics  and 
Cookery :  Theory  and  Practice  of  Treat 
ment  ;    Special  Pathology  and  Hydro- 
Therapeutics,    including    the    Nature, 
Causes,  Symptoms,  and  Tre.atmen'.  of 
all    known   Diseases ;   Application    to 
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Three  Hundred  Engravings,  and  nearly 
One  Thousand  Pages,  including  a  Glos 
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Of  all  the  numerous  publications  which 
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rich,    comprehensive,    and    well-arranged 
Encyclopedia. — JV.  Y.  Tribune. 

Water-Cure  in  Chronic  Diseases ; 
an  exposition  of  the  Causes,  Progress. 
and  Termination  of  Various  Chronic 
Diseases.  By  Dr.  J.  M.  Gully.  An  im 
portant  work 2  00 

Water  and  Vegetable  Diet  in  Scro 
fula.  Cancer,  Asthma,  etc.  By  Dr. 
Lamb.  Notes  by  Dr.  Shew 1  50 


WORKS   OH   PHYSIOLOGY. 


Alcoholic  Controversy.    A  Review  of 

the  Westminster  lienew  on  the  Physio- 

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Anatomical   and   Physiolog-ical 

Plates.  These  Plates  were  arranged 
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of  the  New  York  Hydropathic  College. 
They  are  six  in  number,  representing  the 
normal  position  and  life-size  of  all  the 
internal  viscera,  magnified  illustrations 
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a  view  of  the  principal  nerves,  arteries, 
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Combe's  Physiology,  applied  (o  the 
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Digestion.  Philosophy  of.  The  Prin 
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Family  Gymnasium.  With  numerous 
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C'alisthenic,  Kinesipathic,  and  Vocal 
exercises  to  the  development  of  the 
bodily  organs,  the  invigoration  of  their 
functions,  the  preservation  of  health, 
and  cure  of  diseases  and  deformities. 
By  R.  T.  Trail,  M.D 1  75 

Family  Dentist,  A  Popular  Treatise  on 
the  Teeth.  ByD.  C.  Warner,  M.D. ,  1  50 

Food  and  Diet,  containing  an  Analysis 
of  every  kind  of  Food  and  Drink.  By 
Dr.  J.  Pereira.  Edited  by  Dr.  Lee,  1  75 

Fruits  and  Farinaeea  the  Proper 
Food  of  Man.  With  Notes  and  en- 
ETraved  illustrations.  By  R.  T.  Trail. 
M.D.  Muslin 175 

Hereditary  Descent,  Its  Laws  and 
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Infancy;  or,  the  Physiological  and  Moral 
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Natural  Laws  of  Man.  By  Dr.  Spurz 
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Ethnology,  Physiology,  Phrenology, 
Psychology,  Sociology,  Education,  Art, 
Literature,  with  measures  to  Reform, 
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The  Study  and  Improve 
ment  of  Man  in  all  tus.  Relations  is  our  object. 

The  Natnral  II  Istory  of  IUan 

— including  the  Manners.  Custom*  Religions 
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Physiology,  the  Laws  of  Life 
and  Health,  including  Dietetics,  Eierrixe, 
Sleep,  Study,  Bodily  Growth,  etc.,  will  be 
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Phrenology.— The  Brain  and   its 
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Physiognomy;  or,  "The  Human 

Face  Divine,"  with  "  Signs  of  Character,  and 
How  to  Read  Them"  ncienlifically. 

The  Human  Soul— P«ychol> 

py. — Its  Nature,  Office  nml  Condition  in  l.ifx 
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marriage  forms  a  part  of  the  life  of 

every  well  organized  human  being.  The  ele 
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How  to  select  a  pursuit  to  which  a  person  is 
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